HAD they not burned the proverbial midnight candle, members of the Western Bicutan National High School would not have emerged victorious in the Best Designed Campus Paper 2021 competition.

The Pole, the official student publication of the school, bagged the highest award in the BDCP 2021.

News designer and editorial consultant and former editor-in-chief Allan Raymundo Jr. told The POST that they spent many sleepless nights in finishing the paper.

“Our winning entry was published by December of 2019. We spent multiple nights at the school to finish the writing, proofing, and editing our paper. As for the design, I worked on it for at least three months,” he said.

He added that they always aimed to present new ideas and to go outside the box to have their paper stand out.

“I think it’s the fresh ideas we’ve incorporated throughout the paper. It’d be hard to single them out but we strive to bring something new to the table in every issue we produce. We always try to go beyond what’s expected and I think we’ve done a great job in breaking the conventions of high school newspaper publishing,” he added.

Raymundo shared that there were people who became his inspiration and guided him in his journey.

“Mario Garcia! Not that we knew each other but his words and works have been serving as guidance to me as I foray into the field of journalism and news design. He inspired me so much that I was elated when I’ve come to know that Mario judged the BDCP and that he chose my work/our publication over all the entries from across the Philippines,” he said.

It also helped that the school paper’s adviser Harold Taguba allowed him to experiment.

“We get to wander freely like we have journalistic and creative freedom. It’s very important for student journalists — especially for visual journalists — to be given this independence,” he added.

According to Raymundo, The Pole had 40 core members, composed of the section editors, writers, and artists.

The Pole was declared the Best Student Organ in the 42nd Catholic Mass Media Awards.

It also won as the 2nd Best Student Publication in the National Capital Region Regional Schools Press Conference and Contest.

The Pole also won as 2nd Best in Layout in NSPC 2019 held in Lingayen, Pangasinan.

It also got the following awards in BDCP 2019: Top 10 Finalist, Best Branding and Campus Identity, Most Promising Campus Paper Innovation, and Best in Modular Campus Paper Design.