The Eclipse earns fifth badge for excellence

The+Eclipse+has+earned+five+School+Newspapers+Online+badges+under+the+leadership+of+Katie+Valley%2C+editor+in+chief+%28right%29%2C+and+Kayla+Smith%2C+managing+editor.

IMAGE / Ave'r McKay

The Eclipse has earned five School Newspapers Online badges under the leadership of Katie Valley, editor in chief (right), and Kayla Smith, managing editor.

The Eclipse earned its fifth School Newspapers Online badge of the year Monday, May 23, making it one of only 27 news sites in the nation that have earned five or more badges this year.

SNO hosts 1,933 high school news sites, which puts The Eclipse in the top 2 percent in the nation.

In addition, there are only two news sites in Michigan that have earned badges out of 55 SNO news sites across the state. Besides The Eclipse’s five badges, Grosse Pointe North earned two.

In order to receive its latest badge — the Audience Engagement Badge — The Eclipse must have had two different social media accounts that are updated daily, a total of 1,000 followers between the two accounts and have 5,000 different pageviews from at least 1,000 different visitors within a month.

To say that I am the editor in chief of this newspaper is astounding.

— Katie Valley, editor in chief

Currently, The Eclipse averages 2,699 pageviews each week.

Katie Valley, editor in chief, is proud of her staff and her managing editor, Kayla Smith, for making this possible.

“To say that I am the editor in chief of this newspaper is astounding,” Valley said.

The Eclipse’s other badges earned this year are the Continuous Coverage Badge, the Site Excellence Badge, the Story Page Excellence Page, and the Excellence in Writing Page.