The Oak Leaf Newspaper has two new awards to add to its wall.
Presented by the Journalism Association of Community Colleges  the Oak Leaf was given the General Excellence honor at the Northern California Conference held on Nov. 12 at Sacramento State University.
The General Excellence honor for the print publication was based off a submission of Oak Leaf papers from the Spring 2011 semester. The current online edition was also awarded the distinction.
The conference, which 12 staff members attended, featured a day full of workshops and seminars presented by professionals in a variety of areas.
“They showed specific ways to use journalism in the practical world,” Parris Mazer said.
An awards ceremony for contests and submission articles concluded the conference, where five Oak Leaf  writers were given awards.
Co-Editor-in-Chief Michael Shufro won an honorable mention for his mail-in feature article about the future of SRJC’s creative writing program in the face of budget cuts. Contributing writer Phyllis Heagley won fourth place for her profile on Michael McGinnis, an SRJC instructor and the inventor of the “Superplexus” toy.
Staff writer Parris Mazer won fourth place in On-the-Spot News writing contest. Isabel Johnson, copy editor and opinion editor, won fourth place in On-the-Spot Copyediting. layout editor and state student president of JACC Benjamin “Brutus” Gruey won third place in On-the-Spot Opinion Writing.
Students from community college newspapers from all over Northern California, ranging from Fresno to the Oregon border, took part in the conference. Participants discussed how to address issues that arise in the newsroom, such as late stories and administrations that want to control the student voice.