Press Release: SIPA rates iliad All-Southern
Featured: PAST AND PRESENT: Members of the 2025-26 iliad Editorial Board and iliad re-founder and adviser David Ragsdale (middle) pose in the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center on March 7. The Southern Interscholastic Press Association rated “Eudamonia” All-Southern, its highest rating, on Sept. 16. “I’m so grateful that our staff was recognized and that all of our hard work paid off,” 2025-26 Editor-in-Chief Margo McDaniel said. “I’m so glad that things we really worked hard to include, such as stronger prose, got recognition.” Photo by Grady Dunston
The Southern Interscholastic Press Association rated the iliad’s 2025-26 magazine and 50th issue, “Eudaimonia,” All-Southern on Sept. 16.
Clarke Central High School’s iliad Literary-Art Magazine earned an All-Southern rating, the highest evaluation from the Southern Interscholastic Press Association, on Sept. 16 for its 50th edition, “Eudamonia.”
SIPA categorizes All-Southern publications as demonstrating excellence across scholastic journalism production while integrating writing, design and visual content effectively.
“(The iliad) magazine is always one of my favorites to evaluate. I'm always impressed with how you are able to create a volume each year that is as good or even better than the previous one,” the SIPA judge stated in the evaluation.
The iliad earned All-Southern ratings in reader assistance, design, prose nonfiction, visual content and special touches. Its poetry and prose fiction received Superior ratings, for an overall All-Southern evaluation.
“As awards are trickling in, I’ve thought a lot about how I felt during that process (of) creating the magazine. It was my first time ever collaborating, designing, editing and producing something of that caliber, which was incredibly stressful,” 2025-26 Managing Editor Finley Sleppy, a CCHS senior, said. “I’m grateful all the doubts surrounding those final months didn’t reflect our final success.”
Featured: 2025-26 iliad Literary-Art Magazine Managing Editor Finley Sleppy speaks to a circle full of iliad and ODYSSEY Media Group members in the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center on March 8. The Southern Interscholastic Press Association awarded the iliad’s 50th volume, “Eudaimonia,” with an All-Southern rating, recognizing its reader assistance, prose nonfiction, design, visual content and special touches. “It was my first time ever collaborating, designing, editing and producing something of that caliber, which was incredibly stressful,” Sleppy said. “I’m grateful all the doubts surrounding those final months didn’t reflect our final success.” Photo by Iliana Tejada
The judge recognized the milestone achievement of having a 50th volume, also praising the magazine’s theme development and cohesive design.
“I can tell (the iliad has) a strong tradition of excellence that has lasted for 50 years,” the SIPA judge stated in the evaluation. “You do very little that needs improvement, and I hope my annotations are helpful in praising you and finding just a few things that I felt could be better.”
2025-26 iliad Editor-in-Chief and CCHS Class of 2026 alumna Margo McDaniel developed and settled on the theme of “Eudaimonia” at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year, and guided her staff through the magazine’s production process, using her experience as one of the only returning members from the 2024-25 school year.
“It’s so interesting to see how this idea that I had that started as such a small thing was able to grow so much and even be recognized in such an honorable way,” McDaniel said. “I’m grateful that our staff was recognized and that all of our hard work paid off. I’m glad that things we really worked hard to include, such as stronger prose, got recognition. I hope the 2025-26 staff is just as proud of themselves as I am proud of them.”
This school year, the iliad’s Editorial Board is entirely composed of editors with limited or no previous experience with the program. However, current iliad Editor-in-Chief Emlyn McKinney remains optimistic for the future of the program and its 2027 volume.
“I predict there will be a few growing pains as we begin the process of sorting through submissions and compiling them for the magazine because we are so new, but I’ve seen a lot of promise from the iliad team since the beginning of the 2026-27 school year,” McKinney said. “I’m hoping to carry on the iliad’s reputation for success, so I want to execute this next volume well.”
iliad re-founder and adviser David A. Ragsdale was pleased by the evaluation and had praise for the 2025-2026 iliad Editorial Board.
“Margo McDaniel inherited a team of new colleagues and transformed both our publication and its footprint through strategic leadership,” Ragsdale said. “She worked to set the standard for iliad leadership for years to come.”