Benilde-St. Margaret’s student newspaper, the Knight Errant, has been collecting a variety of awards in the past couple of weeks.

Recently, the National Scholastic Press Association awarded the Knight Errant website, http://bsmknighterrant.org, fourth place in the national best of show contest for schools with enrollment under 1,500. Senior Emma Eldred, who is the online editor-in-chief, was one of 14 Red Knights to attend the national convention, held in Minneapolis this year. She shared that they achieved their goal of placing in the top five, and admitted that she was pleasantly surprised by the Knight Errant’s reputation among peer schools. “Our name is known,” says Eldred. At the convention, “Our copies of the paper were gone within an hour.”

The Minnesota High School Press Association has also honored the Knight Errant with five awards. The online publication received first place for Website General Excellence. Another top honor was given for Staff Editorial. Logan McMillen (a 2011 graduate) earned third place for Review Writing, Eldred took home second place for Feature Writing, and senior Ethan Perushek received honorable mention for Page One Design.

Eldred shares leadership duties with print publication editor-in-chief Sarah Ehlen, also a senior. A total of 22 editors and 24 additional writers work on the Knight Errant. The printed version hits students’ hands every three weeks, with the website serving as an ongoing complementary version.

For each of the past three years, The National Scholastic Press Association has named the Knight Errant website a winner of the national Pacemaker Award, the organization’s highest honor. Eldred has her sights set on continuing the run. “The stress started last year,” she says of her own expectation to help the online publication repeat this honor. The group will find out in March if they are finalists again.