The Toronto paper was chosen because of its excellent design, wide variety of articles, good writing and sense of fun.

“Off the Wall is a superb example of a high school newspaper,” said Joseph Sinasac, judge of the general excellence category. “It combines colour, playful use of photos (and plenty of those), good writing, clean layout and a wide variety of items to serve the different needs of its readers.”

Altogether, there were more than 90 entries in the competition, which pitted student newspapers against each other from Catholic high schools across the Greater Toronto Area. The awards were begun to recognize the good work already done in Catholic student newspapers and to encourage improvements, said Sinasac, publisher and editor of The Register. The competition follows on the heels of a day-long workshop on student journalism which was sponsored by The Register and held in conjunction with Brebeuf College School in November 2006.

There were six categories in the competition: general excellence; best news writing; best photo; best opinion writing; best feature writing; and best design. The general excellence category is accompanied by cash prizes of $500 for winner, $250 for second and $100 for third.

Second in the general excellence category went to The Abbey Times from Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School and third went to The Blue Herald of St. Michael’s College School.

All winners will receive certificates and the judges’ comments, along with subscriptions to The Register for the student newspaper staff.

The certificates and prize money will be mailed to the schools before the end of June.

The other winners are...

General Excellence

First: Off the Wall: Pope John Paul II Catholic Secondary School, Toronto

Second: The Abbey Times, Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School, Toronto

Third: The Blue Herald, St. Michael’s College School, Toronto

Best News Writing

First: “Controversial construction,” by Kristian Sistilli-Mandarano, The Blue Herald, St. Michael’s College School, Toronto

Second: “ELC starve-a-thon,” by Leroy Gonsalves-Prabhu, Off the Wall, Pope John Paul II CSS, Toronto

Third: “CSUNA: Changing the world one page at a time,” by Emily Houghton, The Abbey Times, Loretto Abbey CSS, Toronto

Best Photo

First: “Volley, set, spike!” by Joanna Lai, Oak Leaves, De La Salle College (Oaklands), Toronto

Second: “Duke of Ed” by John David Burnes, The Blue Herald, St. Michael’s College School, Toronto

Third: “Can-Aid 2006: ‛C for Candetta’ ” by Ron Victorino, The B, Brebeuf College School, Toronto

Best Opinion Writing

First: “Still waiting: The Canadian government has yet to apologize to Maher Arar,” by Victoria Chu, The Abbey Times, Loretto Abbey CSS, Toronto

Second: “Death by Toothpick,” by Andrew McKay, Off the Wall, Pope John Paul II CSS, Toronto

Third: “911 inside job? No way!” by Khaalid Gonzales, The B, Brebeuf College School, Toronto

Best Feature Writing

First: “You are here, so is hunger,” by Vanessa Greco, Hawk-I, Holy Cross Catholic Academy, Woodbridge

Second: “The face of global warming,” by Michael Valic, The Blue Herald, St. Michael’s College School, Toronto

Third: “Fighting the return of fur,” by Athena Rivera, The Abbey Times, Loretto Abbey CSS, Toronto

Best Design

First: Hawk-I, Holy Cross Catholic Academy, Woodbridge

Second: The Abbey Times, Loretto Abbey, Toronto

Third: The Blue Herald, St. Michael’s College School, Toronto