MIJA is proud to announce and congratulate its All-State Journalism Team for 2025. The team consists of 11 students from eight different schools across the state. Congratulations to all the recipients and their advisers!

Kegen Adcock, Grandview High School

Kegen Adcock is a senior at Grandview High School, a Title I school in the suburbs of Kansas City. Since a young teenager, Kegen showed interest in developing film production skills, and prior to the creation/revamping of Bulldog TV in 2020, Kegen was producing his own content. Since Bulldog TV launched in 2020, Kegen has been a pivotal part of their behind-the-scenes production, not always getting the recognition he deserves since he isn’t on camera talent. Kegen plans on moving to Colorado and attending a four-year university where he can major in film.

Diane Euston, broadcast journalism adviser at Grandview High School, said, “When we received the funds to purchase professional equipment and the money to build out a studio space in 2023, Kegen was a paramount part in helping make decisions on editing equipment/software, cameras and studio lighting. At the end of last school year, Kegen worked with me to apply for a grant through the Grandview Education Foundation to build out a podcast studio so we could further expand our reach in different mediums. This is a project we are currently working on, and these extra duties require him to devote time outside of class to the growth of the broadcast program. The podcast studio should be functional by the end of the school year. This year, Kegen has served as executive producer, allowing Bulldog TV to truly be a student-produced program from start to finish. While I continue to advise students, Kegen is the main point-person in our class. He assigns stories, determines the order of the broadcast, gives quality feedback of rough drafts of segments and operates the main studio camera when we record our “on-air” talent. This can be demonstrated by viewing the vast improvement of our broadcasts over the past year. Because he is a senior, I have him mentoring a sophomore and a junior so they are learning from him every day and they can take over his position when he graduates.”

Elizabeth Cleary, Lindbergh High School

Elizabeth Cleary has been part of the newspaper staff for three years, serving as Editor-in-Chief for two. As an upperclassman, she was accepted into the Early College program that her school offers, meaning that upon high school graduation, she will also have obtained her associate’s degree. Outside of school, she is passionate about reading and creative writing. Throughout high school, she has been involved in Youth and Government as a media liaison and in the Apotheosis Arts Magazine as the Writing Editor.

Krystle Hoisington, Lindbergh High School newsmagazine, broadcast and English educator, said, “Elizabeth has taken pride in her work and put forth her best effort in completing assignments and daily tasks. This pride helped her not only gain her own individual awards, including an All-Missouri ranking for her news story writing, but to also lead the award-winning Pilot staff to an All-Missouri ranking during her junior year as Editor-in-Chief.

Allie Corlew, Richland R-1 School

Allie Corlew is the Editor-in-Chief of The Rebel, Richland’s student yearbook. She worked her way on staff while still in junior high and has earned her way up to editor. She is a journalist who can stick to her values and AP style but also has the heart to listen and understand everything that is going on around her. Allie’s ethical choices and willingness to stick to a story rival that of any professional journalist today. She is a multi-national award-winning photojournalist who can be found passing her skills on to the next generation or front row of a PBR event, documenting cowboy life. She has brought The Rebel yearbook program to new heights, adding new volunteer work that we have done every year and new fundraising opportunities to allow us to travel to workshops and learn.

Kyle Carter, Richland High School adviser, said, “She’s won multiple Sweepstakes Awards from Quill & Scroll, multiple national Jostens photography awards, and as recently as November was honored with a Superior on her Portfolio Photography at the JEA/NSPA National Convention in Philadelphia – the only junior in the nation to receive the honor. She has done all this while helping me teach journalism nationwide in various workshops, both on Zoom and live-in-class events. Allie went as far as last year, she organized a workshop for three different schools here in Missouri, one nearly 20 times our size. She planned and taught the workshop for almost 300 journalism kids and all I had to do was sit back and watch. She’s done all this but continues to grind the most for our book – covering topics like the controversial new elementary gym that was completed over the summer and the continued crumbling of support for teachers, not only nationwide, but in our own district.”

Emersyn Holthouse, Liberty High School

Senior Emersyn Holthouse has been on yearbook staff for three years and have served as a reporter, Managing Editor and EIC. She was excited to pursue marketing in college to continue developing the design and communication skills she’s learned in yearbook.

Jamie Munoz, journalism adviser for Liberty High School, said, “I have known Emersyn for three years as she was a vital leader of my Spectator Yearbook Staff at Liberty High School. During this time, Emersyn showed immense commitment and went above and beyond in her willingness to learn her part and to help others around her. She was a great team player and a true asset to our overall staff. She ran daily staff meetings, offered ways for the team to improve, and worked one-on-one with students working on our publication. Emersyn was not only a student on staff but worked her way up through the ranks to being the EIC her senior year where she won a number of awards on the national and state levels. Some of these include: Best of Show MOD state winner in 2023 and making the Journalism State Honor Roll in 2024.”

Vincent Hsiao, Ladue Horton Watkins High School

Junior Vincent Hsiao is in his second year serving as Photography Editor in Chief for Ladue Publications at Ladue Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis, Missouri. With over five years of photography experience starting in middle school, Hsiao has earned local, state and national recognition for his photojournalism work, most recently receiving the 2024 NSPA Photojournalist of the Year award. Hsiao is a member of the MaxPreps Professional Photographers Network and runs his own photography business. At Ladue, he is a captain on the boys swim and dive team and manager for the girls team.

Sarah Kirksey, Ladue Horton Watkins High School yearbook and newspaper adviser, said, “This past fall, I had the privilege of a lifetime to sit next to Vincent in Philadelphia as the National Scholastic Press Association named him Photojournalist of the Year. As a junior, it was a shocking achievement. When he went up to accept the award, the director of Quill and Scroll, the journalism national honor society, asked Vincent where he was going to college, to which he replied he was merely a junior, accepted his number one in the nation award, and headed back to his seat, camera in tow, grinning and shaking his head in disbelief. I cried.”

Caroline Kraft, Francis Howell Central High School

Senior Caroline Kraft is the Visuals Editor-in-Chief and this is her second year in FHC Publications. She loves hanging out with her friends and working with the photo staff to create the best content for the school. She is a part of multiple extracurricular activities throughout the school such as being the captain of the girls swim team, president of the French Honor Society, a member of National Honor Society, Arete, and National Art Honor Society.

Matthew Schott, Francis Howell Central High School publications adviser, said, “What stands out to me more than anything with Caroline Kraft is how Caroline Kraft shines in my Honors Newspaper Production and my Honors Yearbook classroom. Not that she shines. It’s the how. Don’t get me wrong, she has all those qualities great students have: a sterling work ethic, outstanding grades, and involvement in sports and clubs. And all those qualities highly recommend Caroline. But no, Caroline shines when she puts in time after school to organize our cameras when I didn’t ask her to (but it needed doing). She shines when she spends time working on the cover of our yearbook when it isn’t something she is required to put time into. Caroline shines when she realizes her classmates are struggling and need her help with editing photos, conducting an interview or simply hitting a deadline. When Caroline has a discussion with another yearbook staff member and our publishing representative that leads to the three of them in tears (good ones!) as they work out the story of our yearbook theme, she shines ever so brightly.”

Emily Liu, Ladue Horton Watkins High School

Emily Liu is a senior at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, where she currently serves as Design Editor-in-Chief of her school’s newsmagazine, Panorama, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the literary magazine, Melodrama. As an infographics-focused journalist, Liu has been recognized on the national scale as the 2024 Designer of the Year by the National Scholastic Press Association and one of 30 students nationwide selected for JCamp, a journalism program by the Asian American Journalists Association. When not designing, Liu crafts beaded bracelets, competes in speech and debate and collects stickers.

Sarah Kirksey, Ladue Horton Watkins High School yearbook and newspaper adviser, said, “To say I have been impressed with Emily’s leadership ability and her dedication to her work would be a bit of an understatement. Emily is an incredibly driven, intelligent, and thoughtful person, and she has been nothing short of a vital leader in the room since joining Panorama in 2022. With her help, our newspaper was named number one in the nation in the fall of 2023 and again this past spring, and I know a large part of  that is due to Emily’s innovations, designs, and mentorship. Her ability to relate to and communicate with her staff has been a shining display for how people should interact with and treat others.”

Thomas Ramos, Francis Howell Central High School

Thomas Ramos is the Print Assignments Editor in his second year of FHC Publications. He has a passion for plants and writing, and he hopes to focus on botany and/or journalism in college. In his free time, he loves spending time with his friends, eating all sorts of food and playing video games. This year in Publications, he hopes to grow his leadership skills and to produce something students can look forward to with Central Focus.

Matthew Schott, publications adviser at Francis Howell Central High School, said, “The Missouri All-State team was set up to honor those students who are deemed indispensable to their publications staff. I can think of no better example of that in FHC Publications than Thomas Ramos. Thomas is our newsmagazine’s assignments editor, which essentially means he’s there to make sure assignments are getting both created and completed. Thomas has made the role much more than that, serving as an indispensable resource for our reporters when they come up against struggles. Thomas helps them find solutions to their problems, edits their work to make sure our stories are as full and complete as possible. He makes sure they’re adhering to AP style and have strong headlines.”

Audrey Scarpace, Lindbergh High School

Audrey Scarpace is in her second year as Co-Editor-in-Chief for Lindbergh High School’s yearbook, joining broadcast for her senior year to be as involved in publications as she can. She is also the captain of the varsity golf team, a sport she has been playing since sophomore year. With her time spent dedicated to journalism, she has been awarded NSPA Individual Best of Show both first and third place Yearbook Design, Quill and Scroll First Place for Cover Design, and First Place for Theme Copy.

Carrie Rapp, Spirit yearbook adviser at Lindbergh High School, said, “As an EIC, Audrey maintains high standards for her peers, ensuring that students learn and develop to produce an exceptional product. During her time on yearbook staff, Audrey has earned several awards and recognitions including NSPA Individual Best of Show both first and third place Yearbook Design, Quill and Scroll First Place for Cover Design and First Place for Theme Copy, MIJA All-Missouri rating for the 2023 Yearbook Theme and an MIJA honorable mention for her academic photography. Under her leadership, the 2024 yearbook placed fifth in NSPA Best of Show in the largest category (yearbooks 360+ pages) and was Lindbergh’s first ever to earn recognition as a NSPA Pacemaker Finalist and CSPA Crown Finalist.”

Esther Wang, Parkway Central High School

Esther Wang is a junior at Parkway Central High School in Chesterfield, MO. She is the Features and Design Editor for the Corral Newspaper. As a sophomore, Esther served as the news editor. Esther is passionate about the first amendment and writing about local, national and global politics. Esther is brilliantly skilled in graphic design and an excellent photographer. Additionally, as just a sophomore, Esther won the Missouri Speech and Debate State Championship for International Extemporaneous Speaking. She moved to the United States from China just four years ago.

Christine Stricker, journalism adviser at Parkway Central High School, said, “I was ecstatic when Esther joined the newspaper staff. Esther immediately wanted to write about national and international news, news analysis and politics. Her work is analytical but with an easy-to-read style. She goes above and beyond on assignments, choosing topics that are challenging but of interest to other students, like global news issues. During the election, she created unique and detailed infographics to inform and explain issues to her peers. She’s won Best of SNO awards for a story about bus driver shortages, gifted musicians and political op-eds. Her most recent story was an unbiased analysis of how the Trump administration might handle global issues. As a sophomore, she won the Best in Show award in Newswriting for the 2024 Missouri Journalism Day Awards. Her portfolio of stories reads like many other talented journalists. What sets Esther apart is not just her writing talents and her extraordinary research abilities. It’s the fact that she is an English Language Learner who fled from China with her family due to religious persecution just four short years ago. She is passionate about the original purposes of journalism: the first amendment, freedom from censorship, and working as a watchdog of the government.”

Sarah Won, Hickman High School

Sarah Won is in her second year as Managing Editor for Hickman High School’s student-led news. She started as the yearbook photography editor in her sophomore year and was offered an editor position for the newspaper her junior year. Outside of journalism, she serves as the Team Captain of the Hickman Girls Golf team and plays violin for Hickman’s top orchestra.

Adviser Ashley Yargus said, “As managing editor, Sarah has worked diligently to enhance the relevance of our school’s news publications. She has produced content in various formats, from lighthearted video interviews with Hickman’s preschool students to in-depth features on critical issues such as homelessness in our city and heart health in young women. This semester, she has pursued the audience engagement badge from Sno by spearheading initiatives such as the “Senior Baby Challenge,” a popular project among senior parents and students. She has also led daily social media content creation, boosting engagement across platforms.”