WHEREAS, The Spartan Shield, the Pleasant Valley High School student-run, self funded newspaper, produces 6-7 print editions each year and adds in excess of 25 stories to their news site each week, and has been names a School Newspapers Online (SNO) Distinguished Site for the past three years; and,
WHEREAS, The Valenian, the Pleasant Valley High School student-run yearbook, currently in the process of producing its sixty-fourth volume, has received Class C Yearbook of the Year for the past four years and has been inducted into the Walsworth Gallery of Excellence for the past two years; and,
WHEREAS, past editors-in-chief of both The Spartan Shield and The Valenian have gone on to thrive in the field of journalism; last year's editor is a student at Columbia, the 2022 editor is a student at Stanford, and the 2021 editor is a student at Northwestern responsible for breaking the story about hazing within the football program that became a national headline; and,
WHEREAS, Maureen Dyer, a teacher at Pleasant Valley High School, has been the faculty advisor for both The Spartan Shield and The Valenian for the past eleven years; and
WHEREAS, each spring, high schools across Iowa summit their best work to the Iowa High School Press Association (IHSPA), and from that work, the IHSPA awards individuals and names the finalists for News Team of the Year and Yearbook of the Year, and, Pleasant Valley High School was names a finalist in both categories; and,
WHEREAS, at the annual state journalism conference, attended by almost 900 students at the University of Iowa on October 19, 2023, Pleasant Valley High School was named the All Iowa News team of the Year and the Class C Yearbook of the Year for 2023; this is the second time in school history that both The Spartan Shield and The Valenian received both awards in the same year; the first was in 2021.
THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Anthony Heddlesten, Mayor of the City of Riverdale, Iowa, do hereby proclaim November 14, 2023 as
THE SPARTAN SHIELD & THE VALENIAN DAY
in Riverdale, and encourage staff, residents, and visitors to join me in congratulating The Spartan Shield and The Valenian staff for their commitment to excellence.
WHEREAS, The Valenian, the Pleasant Valley High School student-run yearbook, currently in the process of producing its sixty-fourth volume, has received Class C Yearbook of the Year for the past four years and has been inducted into the Walsworth Gallery of Excellence for the past two years; and,
WHEREAS, past editors-in-chief of both The Spartan Shield and The Valenian have gone on to thrive in the field of journalism; last year's editor is a student at Columbia, the 2022 editor is a student at Stanford, and the 2021 editor is a student at Northwestern responsible for breaking the story about hazing within the football program that became a national headline; and,
WHEREAS, Maureen Dyer, a teacher at Pleasant Valley High School, has been the faculty advisor for both The Spartan Shield and The Valenian for the past eleven years; and
WHEREAS, each spring, high schools across Iowa summit their best work to the Iowa High School Press Association (IHSPA), and from that work, the IHSPA awards individuals and names the finalists for News Team of the Year and Yearbook of the Year, and, Pleasant Valley High School was names a finalist in both categories; and,
WHEREAS, at the annual state journalism conference, attended by almost 900 students at the University of Iowa on October 19, 2023, Pleasant Valley High School was named the All Iowa News team of the Year and the Class C Yearbook of the Year for 2023; this is the second time in school history that both The Spartan Shield and The Valenian received both awards in the same year; the first was in 2021.
THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Anthony Heddlesten, Mayor of the City of Riverdale, Iowa, do hereby proclaim November 14, 2023 as
THE SPARTAN SHIELD & THE VALENIAN DAY
in Riverdale, and encourage staff, residents, and visitors to join me in congratulating The Spartan Shield and The Valenian staff for their commitment to excellence.
