Acorn photo editor wins CNPA first place
Receives three additional awards

HOT SHOT- Jann Hendry's prizewinning photo shows secondgraders Emily Demsetz and David Huang of Lang Ranch Elementary School in Thousand Oaks as they're declared winners of a school geography bee. Expressions tell the story.

Jann Hendry, photo editor for the five editions of the Acorn, received first place honors last weekend in the California Newspaper Publishers Association's Better Newspapers Contest.

Hendry's picture (left) of two second-graders reacting with glee to their win over older children in a school geography bee was published March 23, 2006 in the Thousand Oaks Acorn. The winning shot was the only black-and-white photo entered in the Breaking News category.

Hendry, who has been with the Acorn newspapers for three years, attended the CNPA's July 14 awards presentation in San Francisco. She had been notified that she was among the finalists for first place.

She also recently received honorable mention certificates from the publishers' association for Spot News, Features and Sports photos taken last year for the Simi Valley and Camarillo Acorns.

Newspapers compete with other CNPA member publications in similar circulation ranges.

More than 1,000 entries were submitted to the CNPA judges in this year's contest.