Annual Contest FAQs

With the shift in graduation credits, AP course offerings, curriculum standards, and with administrators placing more emphasis on testing, advisers need every possible resource to promote their programs and remain afloat. JEANC aims to promote the good things happening in scholastic journalism.

Q: Why is the contest deadline before the end of the year?
A: The April 1 contest deadline gives members would have an opportunity to enter student work and receive recognition in the same year that the work was created. Certificates arrive at schools before seniors leave town, which we think is a major plus!

Q: When will winners be notified?
A: Winners will be notified in May, and winning work will be showcased on the JEANC website with all contest results.

Q: In what format should we submit our work?
A: Entries can be submitted as either PDFs or URLs, depending on whether the entry was created in print or digital media. Video/Broadcast entries must be submitted as URLs. Entries may not be submitted in print.

Q: How should we submit our work?
A: Here’s the step-by-step process:

1. Begin by taking a look at the contest categories and guidelines, organizing your entries, and checking the file names and sizes of your PDFs.
2. Once you are ready, go to the entry form to provide your school information, calculate your total and select your payment method.
3. After submitting this information, you will be able to upload entries. If your uploading process is interrupted, return to the uploading page.

Q: What if I realize after I submitted the entry form that I actually uploaded more/fewer entries?
A: No problem. Simply complete the entry form one more time with the additional number of entries indicated. For example, if I initially said I was entering 10, but then I uploaded 12, I would need to complete an additional entry form for two entries.

Remember that each member adviser gets three free entries, so the number you enter on the entry form is the number of paid entries. The total number of entries will be that number plus three.

Q: How will our entries be judged?
A: All complete entries received by the deadline will be judged together by category, regardless of the size of their school, publication or student staff.

Q: Who are the judges for this contest?
A: A variety of nationally award-winning advisers and professional journalists from outside California have been selected to rank entries for each category. Advisers within California are not eligible to judge this contest.

Q: Which publications are eligible to enter?
A: Your current adviser membership entitles you to enter yearbook, general news publication (print or online), and online-only categories. Any work published April 3, 2023 — April 1, 2024. is eligible for entry in this year’s contest. You may submit up to two entries per category per publication advised, as long as they are not from the same student. For yearbooks, you will be submitting work that has not yet been published but was completed in the April-to-April time period (which may be work for your 2023-24 book that has not yet been delivered).

Q: What are the contest categories?
A: You can view and print descriptions of all of the contest categories by viewing the contest categories and guidelines.

Additional questions? E-mail [email protected]