Mr. Andrew Neely, Altoona Area High School
The Pennsylvania School Press Association is proud to announce the 2026 Administrator of the Year Award, Mr. Andrew Neely of Altoona Area High School.
The purpose of this award recognizes an administrator who provides resources to encourage high-quality scholastic journalism or media programs; encourages a free student press; publicly recognizes and promotes curriculum courses in journalism and mass media.
After reading his letters of recommendation, the awards committee unanimously chose Mr. Neely due to his support of a rigorous and thriving journalism program at Altoona Area High School.
As shown in his required letters of recommendation, supporters for Neely wrote:
“When we were designing our new high school that opened in 2020, Mr. Neely made the communications arts a priority in design and resource allocation. This resulted in a professional grade television production studio, multi media lab, and equipment that enable unparalleled digital and print media. Whether it be our award-winning Mountain Echo newspaper, Horseshoe Yearbook, or MTV production, the communications arts at AAHS are unmatched in the state of Pennsylvania.”
- Brad M. Hatch, Superintendent, Altoona Area High School
“To have a student-run journalism program is an incredible feat. But to have an administrator who gives the students every single opportunity to grow, take risks, and achieve great things is another feat entirely. Under the administrative leadership of Andrew Neely, we have started social media pages for our journalism programs, written stories that a more restrictive administrator would have turned down, and won countless awards both for Mountain Echo and Horseshoe yearbook.”
-Madison Aboud, Mountain Echo Newspaper Editor-in-Chief
-Noah DiVentura, Horseshoe Yearbook Editor-in-Chief
Altoona Area High School
Mr. Neely was recognized as the 2026 Administrator of the Year at the State Journalism Finals at Penn State on March 16, 2026.
The Pennsylvania School Press Association is proud to announce the 2026 Administrator of the Year Award, Mr. Andrew Neely of Altoona Area High School.
The purpose of this award recognizes an administrator who provides resources to encourage high-quality scholastic journalism or media programs; encourages a free student press; publicly recognizes and promotes curriculum courses in journalism and mass media.
After reading his letters of recommendation, the awards committee unanimously chose Mr. Neely due to his support of a rigorous and thriving journalism program at Altoona Area High School.
As shown in his required letters of recommendation, supporters for Neely wrote:
“When we were designing our new high school that opened in 2020, Mr. Neely made the communications arts a priority in design and resource allocation. This resulted in a professional grade television production studio, multi media lab, and equipment that enable unparalleled digital and print media. Whether it be our award-winning Mountain Echo newspaper, Horseshoe Yearbook, or MTV production, the communications arts at AAHS are unmatched in the state of Pennsylvania.”
- Brad M. Hatch, Superintendent, Altoona Area High School
“To have a student-run journalism program is an incredible feat. But to have an administrator who gives the students every single opportunity to grow, take risks, and achieve great things is another feat entirely. Under the administrative leadership of Andrew Neely, we have started social media pages for our journalism programs, written stories that a more restrictive administrator would have turned down, and won countless awards both for Mountain Echo and Horseshoe yearbook.”
-Madison Aboud, Mountain Echo Newspaper Editor-in-Chief
-Noah DiVentura, Horseshoe Yearbook Editor-in-Chief
Altoona Area High School
Mr. Neely was recognized as the 2026 Administrator of the Year at the State Journalism Finals at Penn State on March 16, 2026.
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