By Heather Darenberg
Staff Writer
heather.darenberg@gwinnettdailypost.com

LAWRENCEVILLE - The Gwinnett Daily Post honored the county's most talented young newspaper reporters, photographers and designers Thursday at its sixth annual Gwinnett High School Journalism Awards Banquet.
Peachtree Ridge's The Roar took top honors, placing first for general excellence. Berkmar's The Liberty, which had won the award each year since the contest's inception, received honorable mention in the category.
"We hoped we would (win) but we didn't want to assume anything." said Alexa Sherman, the co-editor-in-chief of The Roar. "We have a lot of individual talents and work collectively."
"I think we have a nice mix of experience and creative ability," said Andrew Barnhart, the other co-editor-in-chief of The Roar.
The Roar also took home first-place honors for best editorial, best design/layout and best sports section. The paper also received honorable mention for its news section, a column and a feature photo.
Twelve high schools participated in the contest, submitting entries in 18 categories. The Daily Post's newsroom staff judged the writing, art, layout and advertising of the high schools' news, editorial, features and sports sections.
"This is a fun contest to judge because of the quality of the entries," Post editor Todd Cline said. "A lot of good work is being done at the high school papers, including some very impressive editorials. This is a nice way to honor that hard work."
The banquet was held Thursday night at Winfield Hall in Duluth. Hollie Manheimer, the executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, was the keynote speaker. Manheimer talked about the importance of being civic minded, attending open meetings and accessing open records.

The Winners
Individual Awards
Best Art or Illustration