The Rebel Express won six first place awards and one second place award in the 2023 Loyola Tom Bell Silver Scribe Awards announced on Monday, May 9.

The Rebel Express won the award for Best Publication Website, beating out the St. Paul’s School’s The Paper Wolf.

Rebel Express editor Kallie Bourgeois won first place in Sports Writing for her story on Riverside swimmer MaKaya LaRose, who qualified for all eight events at the State Swim Meet in November.

Mason Meyer won first place in Feature Writing for his story on Riverside students’ after school jobs.

Jessie Weiler won first place in Editorial Writing for her article “Prom Problems,” about her problems finding a prom dress.

The staff won both first and second place in Headline Writing. The second place winner was “Cajuns Fit The Bill” on a story about Riverside running back Elijah “Bill” Davis signing with the University of Louisiana-Lafyette. The first place winner was “Byrd Soars To Hall Of Fame” on a story about former Rebels basketball coach Timmy Byrd being elected to the LHSAA Hall of Fame.

The student podcast “Ramblin’ Rebels,” hosted by Noah Trepagnier and Lee Meyers, won first place in Entertainment Podcast. The winning podcast was No. 12, which featured RA student Ethan Henry.

The Silver Scribe Awards is an annual competition for high school journalists under the direction of the Journalism Educators Association and Loyola University’s School of Mass Communication. Awards are given for news writing, sports writing, feature writing, editorial writing, headline writing, yearbook production, photography, broadcasting and podcasting, as well as best news website and best printed publication. The contest is named for longtime journalist and Loyola journalism professor Tom Bell.

The 2022-2023 Rebel Express staff included Bourgeois, Meyer, Meyers, Trepagnier, Weiler, Alainah Felton and Zoie Gray, with an assist in design from Emile Graugnard III. The Advisor is Lori Lyons. This is the first time the Rebel Express entered the annual contest.

See all the winners here: 2023 Tom Bell Silver Scribe Awards