May sees Iowa City West students, Lydia Cruce and Sonya Zhu, take home both the Story and Photo of the Month.

Lydia Cruce takes complex information about cancer rates, radon and pesticides and makes their connection understandable. She does that be using wording that does not sound like a research paper. She gets an assist from Jack Sun who breaks down a few important stats in infograhics. Most importantly, she tells the stories of a student and a teacher who had cancer. Details like how people didn’t invite the student to some events thinking she would be unable to participate instead of asking her make the story. This story is as well-written as some of the professional media’s stories about the topic.

Lydia is a junior at West High and currently serves as the Print Profiles Editor on West Side Story. You can find Lydia’s submission here. You can also read more of her work here!

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Sonya Zhu also of West shows that choir photos can be interesting! Look at the emotion, the lighting and the depth of field used for photo 7 in the gallery. Along with captions that pinpoint what song was sung and other details, her photo techniques work well to share the story.

Sonya is a sophomore at West High, where she is currently a Print Reporter for the West Side Story. You can find Sonya’s winning photos here. You can also find more of her work here.