High School Communications Contest
The deadline to enter the Nebraska Press Women High School Communications Contest is two weeks from today – Wednesday, Feb. 18, at noon. If you haven’t already started your entries, you still have time. The current number of entries is significantly below where it usually is at this point. I hope that just means most schools haven’t yet started their entries.
We hope you will take the time to look at the contest categories and enter some of your students’ best work in the competition. The contest is open to both young men and young women.
Following are some notes and tips to ensure a good contest for you and for the students who enter the competition. An attachment provides more detailed information.
Contest Deadline: Noon on Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Contest Categories:
- News – Categories 1 – 13. These categories consist of written or visual information that appears in print or online publications. Entries are either PDFs of pages that contain the entry material OR the URLs that point to the work sample online.
- Environment – Category 14. Entries in this category may be in a print or online publication, part of a radio or television broadcast, or an article or display in a yearbook.
- Broadcast or Video – Categories 15 – 20. These categories are for work produced for airing on radio, television, or on a podcast.
- Yearbook — Categories 21 – 23. These are for work published in the 2025 yearbook.
Find out more about the categories online at https://nfpwcontest.secure-platform.com/a/page/highschool-communications-contest/highschool-category-requirements
Judging and Awards:
Entries in the Nebraska High School Communications Contest, as well as the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) national contest, are judged online by communications professionals in their fields of expertise. They are asked to provide constructive comments on the work they judge and to award ranks of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place and honorable mention in each category.
As always, entries that receive a first-place award in the Nebraska contest advance to the NFPW National High School Communications Contest. Nebraska has consistently done well in the national contest. Last year Nebraska high school students from 11 schools earned a total of 22 awards – three first places, five second places, seven third places and seven honorable mentions.
All state winners receive a certificate from NPW. One Nebraska school will receive the Sweepstakes Award, including a cash prize and a trophy. Depending on the number of entries in the contest, a runner-up award may also be given.
First, second and third-place winners will be invited to NPW’s high school awards luncheon on Saturday, April 25, in Lincoln.
Eligibility:
- All 2026 contest entries must have been published, e-published, broadcast, or issued between February 15, 2025, and February 14, 2026.
- Entries must be produced by a current high school student or a recently graduated student who produced the work in their senior year after February 15, 2025.
- Entries must have been professionally published/produced or published/produced by a school or professional publication in a recognized medium for the category. This could be a school, local or national newspaper; a website; a school, local or national television production; and the like. No social media posts will be accepted.
- New for 2026: Each student will be limited to ONE entry per category. This will encourage advisers to select a student’s best work for each category entered and promote competition between students and schools. We encourage advisors to spread out their school’s entries among the 23 categories and to consider entering categories that typically have a fewer number of entries. See list of categories that had the most and fewest entries last year at the bottom of this document. If a student enters more than one piece in a category, only one will advance to judging. No refunds will be given for entries that are not judged.
Entry Fees:
The fee for the Nebraska contest is $5 per entry. Please keep track of the number of entries made by your students. Note that the contest software will keep track of the entries for you.
Payment:
The contest will accept check or credit card payments. When you finish all the entries for your school, you can print an invoice at the “check out” process if you are paying by check or you will receive a copy of the invoice when you pay by credit card. Checks, payable to Nebraska Press Women, should be sent to NPW Contest, c/o Sherry Thompson, 8001 N. 124 St., Omaha, NE 68142.
Entering the Contest:
We ask high school advisors to do the following and create a password to be used for all entries from one school.
Login to the contest at https://nfpwcontest.secure-platform.com/a/page/find-your-competition
The first thing you want to do is use your email and select a password of your choice to enter the site. It will ask you for a name, email address, phone number, etc. Please completely fill out the information requested. If you entered in 2025, your information and password will work again for the 2026 contest.
Here is a direct link to the Nebraska contest:
Here is a direct link to the Nebraska contest
Contest Questions:
If you have questions on the Nebraska contest, contact Sherry Thompson at Nebraska.press.women@gmail.com or sherrythompson@cox.net.
For questions related to categories and eligibility issues, contact: Teri Ehresman, National Federation of Press Women high school contest director, islandpark723@gmail.com.
