McNeil Publications, as a whole, brought home six awards from the 2023 convention of the Texas Association of Journalism Educators. 

The Trailblazer staff brought home one individual award, with reporter Alyssa Perrera winning an “excellent” in review writing. 

The yearbook won three individual awards. Editor-in-chief Ella Carter won a superior in advanced yearbook design, with her and co-editor-in-chief Luiza Deboni also winning an honorable mention award in yearbook theme package. Copy editor Jordan Sisco won an honorable mention award in yearbook copy. 

“I was very, very nervous,” Deboni said. “It just made me really happy because last year’s book was really fun to make and everyone worked really, really hard to get all the quotes and pictures and everything.”

The entire publications department secured two “best of show” awards. The Trailblazer earned 9th place in online newspapers and the Yearbook earned 7th place in yearbooks above 260 pages.