The Tiger Times was announced a Pacemaker finalist by the National Scholastic Press Association last month for the 2013-14 print editions.

The staff submitted last year’s newspapers in June, and the list of more than 50 finalist was posted onto the NSPA website on Sept. 16.

“Getting on the Pacemaker Finalist list was probably the furthest thing from my mind,” co- editor in chief Taylor Potter said. “Even though I knew that our issues had been excellent, it still came as a surprise.”

A Pacemaker is the highest award given to scholastic publications from the NSPA. It will be awarded in Washington D.C. in November.

“As far as I know, this is the biggest award received while I was a staff member,” co-editor in chief Sydney Schoen said. “This is only Texas High’s second time to receive it, and I’m so happy that the second time happened when my best friends and I were co-editor in chief.”

The Tiger Times has made the Pacemaker Finalist list once in 2010 and also won the award.

“Winning awards is sort of like the icing on the cake of having a journalistically solid publication,” newspaper adviser Rebecca Potter said. “For the past few years, the staff has really focused on adding depth to their coverage. Apparently, this must have caught the judges’ eyes.”

Co-editor in chief Josh Klein attributed their success to the staff’s ability to work together.

“I had a great staff that all contributed to the paper, and it was a group effort every time to produce it. I’m just happy to know that I played a role among a phenomenal group of people and that we did actually make a difference,” Klein said. “It’s a huge honor, and I’m glad to be able to share it with my fellow editors and staff.”

The newspaper made the finalist list for the ‘newspaper tabloid 17+ pages’, which is the size of the paper and number of pages.

“My favorite issue, and the issue I feel contributed the most was the dating violence issue,” Schoen said. “We put a lot of time into the issue in order to make it cohesive, and we spent more time than normal on the graphic design aspect.”

View more print editions of the Tiger Times.

The judges select Pacemaker recipients based on coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership on the opinion page, evidence of in-depth reporting, design, photography, and art and graphics.

“Above all though, the staff is committed to telling stories that can make a difference in someone’s life,” Rebecca Potter said, “and to promote the sharing of ideas that can make our school community a better one.”

The current staff hopes to carry on the success with many more awards.

“There really isn’t any reasons that the Tiger Times and tigertimesonline shouldn’t be a finalist every year. We have two great advisers and the editors there now are top-notch,” Taylor Potter said. “I would be surprised if they don’t make it again next year.”