Dorchester Times: Danni McKnight, Fellow DHS Journalists Shine At State Competition

Thursday, April 29, 2021

Danni McKnight, Fellow DHS Journalists Shine At State Competition

UPDATE (4/30) -- In addition to the strong DHS showing at the Nebraska Press Women High School Communications Contest, we now learn that Dorchester's journalism students had an even more impressive showing at the NSAA state journalism competition. Here's who placed at the NSAA event:

Danni McKnight (Senior):

* 1st in Yearbook Theme Copy Writing

* 4th in New/Feature Photography

* 8th in Yearbook Feature Writing

Alli Novak (Senior):

* 8th in Yearbook Sports Feature Writing

* 8th in Yearbook Theme Copy Writing

Ashton Rasplicka (Junior):

* 2nd in Info Graphic

Madison Sherwood (Junior):

* 7th in Yearbook Feature Writing

Jacob Cerny (Sophomore):

* 4th in Yearbook Sports Feature Writing

Mitzu Real (Freshman):

* 8th in Advertising

Ian Abbott (Junior), Danni McKnight (Senior), Alli Novak (Senior):

* 4th in Yearbook Theme Development

Dorchester was ninth overall in Class C out of 38 schools (schools with enrollment at 149 or below). The journalism students are led by adviser Sandy Severance.

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The budding journalists of Dorchester High School recently brought home more honors -- this time from the Nebraska Press Women (NPW) High School Communications Contest.

According to a news release sent to the Times, the annual competition included 218 entries by students from 15 Nebraska high schools. The contest, which was open to high school students across the state, included categories in the areas of writing, visual, broadcast or video, and yearbook. Entries were judged by communications professionals, with constructive feedback provided on each entry.

In the yearbook copywriting competition, DHS' Breanna Muff captured first place, while fellow Longhorn Danni McKnight took third.

In the yearbook photo division, McKnight took third place honors, while Jacob Cerny, Alli Novak, and Tyler Sysel all received honorable mentions.

With her first place finish, Muff will advance to the National Federation of Press Women competition. National award winners will be announced during an online high school awards celebration on May 22.

Congrats to Dorchester's young journalists, who continue to shine on the statewide stage.

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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."