Humboldt jerds rule! (That’s nerd + journalist.)
For the 10th year in a row, Humboldt High School’s journalism students — the jerds — have picked up a state championship.
No other school in the state of Kansas, no matter how large or small, has achieved 10 state journalism championships, let alone consecutive titles, journalism teacher Kim Isbell said. Altogether, Humboldt has 24 state titles since the state journalism contest began.
“Every single jerd over the past 10 years has played a part in this year’s win through continued hard work and dedication,” Isbell said.
The “jerd” nickname, by the way, came about some years ago at a yearbook conference. Another school called themselves “yerds” (yearbook nerds), and the ever-competitive Humboldt journalism students felt required to take it a step further. The nickname is just as much a point of pride as the repeat championships.
“They’re very competitive,” Isbell said. “It’s definitely a tradition in our school. The students put a lot of pressure on themselves this year. The seniors especially wanted to make it to 10 in a row.”
“It’s still sinking in for me. A whole decade. And I know that next year, they’re going to want to make it to that 25 total championships.”
But winning that 10th consecutive championship certainly didn’t come easy.
In fact, the contest almost didn’t happen at all.
The coronavirus pandemic, which put an end to traditional classroom instruction for the final weeks of the school year, caused the contest to be moved to an all-digital platform. Typically, part of the contest — design and photography — is done online. The reporting and editing portions are done in person at The University of Kansas. Instead, those students were given a writing prompt and had 24 hours to turn in an original article.
Also, most entries for the state contest are original. Students qualify for state by winning a regional contest, then submit new entries for state.
But this year, the winning entries from regional contests were carried over to the state.
Some categories required new material, like social media contests that included coverage of the COVID-19 crisis.
“They were covering things that were happening right now. They got to do real journalism, from a distance,” Isbell said.
The state’s restrictions on mass gatherings and social distancing meant students had to work independently, relying on technology to communicate with each other, and share ideas and material.
“They handled it pretty well,” Isbell said. “They knew what they needed to do, as a lot of them had competed before. They were able to adapt and they didn’t drop a beat.”
