WSHR Makes History, Redefines Student Media with Record 11 Press Club Honors

For the students and staff of WSHR, it was a historic night, marking the most significant achievement in the nearly 60-year history of Sachem’s student-run media outlet. 

WSHR earned 11 honors at the Press Club of Long Island Awards, highlighted by receiving the prestigious Bob Greene Public Service Award and becoming the first high school media organization ever to be recognized with it.

Presented by the Press Club of Long Island, the local professional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Bob Greene Public Service Award recognizes journalism that makes a meaningful impact on the community. WSHR was honored for amplifying student voices, telling the stories of the Sachem community and transforming local journalism through innovative, real-time, multiplatform storytelling.

WSHR earned first-place honors as Long Island's Best High School Radio Station and Best High School TV Station category, further demonstrating the strength of the station's expanding multimedia platform.

The station’s flagship newscast, “Around the Arrowhead,” featuring Alyssa Tappin, Danny Collins, Ben Bonett and Elio Portillo, was recognized as the Best High School Newscast on Long Island.

Sachem North senior Alyssa Tappin capped off an extraordinary evening by becoming the most decorated high school broadcaster on Long Island in 2026. Tappin was named the Hank Logeman High School Student Journalist of the Year and received a $2,000 scholarship. She also earned High School Radio Reporter of the Year honors, placed second for High School TV Reporter of the Year and received second-place recognition in the student media sports reporting category for her Sachem football sideline coverage.

WSHR also demonstrated its ability to compete alongside professional media organizations. The station’s coverage of Sachem playoff football earned first-place honors in the professional radio category. In the professional arts and entertainment category, “The Alternative Hour,” hosted by Lucia Bruccoleri, Cara DeSantis and Jack Kelly, earned third-place recognition.

Additional honors included a second-place finish in the student media radio feature story category for WSHR’s Veterans Day Special, hosted by Tappin.

With 11 total awards, WSHR earned more honors than any high school media outlet on Long Island in 2026, with only one local university media program receiving more overall recognition. The awards spanned both student and professional categories, underscoring the station’s unique ability to produce journalism that competes at the highest levels while providing authentic learning experiences for students.

During the 2025-26 school year, WSHR evolved from a traditional radio station into a comprehensive media network, producing daily content across radio broadcasts, social media platforms, video productions, podcasts and digital news coverage.

While WSHR has served the community through radio broadcasting for nearly six decades, its social media presence was launched in September 2025 and quickly emerged as one of Long Island's most influential high school storytelling platforms. In less than a year, student-produced content regularly surpassed one million monthly impressions, extending the reach of student journalism far beyond the radio dial and creating new opportunities to inform, engage and connect the Sachem community. Combined with its expansion into digital and social media, WSHR has become a model for modern student journalism and community storytelling.