Two AACC student publications won national awards this week.

The College Media Association awarded Amaranth, a journal that publishes student works of art and writing, second place for Literary Magazine of the Year in the two-year college category. It also awarded Campus Current, the student newspaper, honorable mention for Newspaper of the Year. Both awards are for the 2022-2023 school year.

The Pinnacle Award, one of student media’s top two honors, is a “wonderful recognition for our students [on the staff], for both students and alumni that have contributed to the journal, for the creative writing program as a whole and … for the college,” professor Simon Ward, Amaranth’s faculty adviser, said.

In 2019, Amaranth won student media’s other top award, the Pacemaker from Associated Collegiate Press, for Best Literary Magazine, while Campus Current was a finalist for Best Newspaper.

Zack Buster, who was editor-in-chief of Campus Current last year, said it “hasn’t really sunk in yet” that the paper won the award.

“You mean to tell me I get an award for something I already find super rewarding?” said Buster, who is this year’s Student Government Association president.

Patrick Caswell, an AACC graduate who was managing editor of Amaranth for the winning edition, said getting the award feels “pretty great.”

“My dad summed it up perfectly,” Caswell added. “He said, ‘That’s cool.’”