The NJPF Newspaper in Education & Youth Readership Program received the second-place award for General Excellence from the Newspaper Association of America Foundation at its Young Reader Conference held May 15-17 in Phoenix.

Pictured here receiving the award are Cynthia Forster of The Record and Herald News and Bill Cancci of the Home News Tribune. Presenting the award is Margaret Vassilikos, senior vice president and treasurer of the NAA Foundation.

The Hall of Fame Award, the top honor presented every year by the NAA Foundation, was awarded to The Record (Bergen County).

"The winners of the General Excellence Awards represent the best newspapers have to offer, developing the positive habit of newspaper readership at an early age," said Vissilikos.

The award recognized the NIE work by New Jersey's newspapers throughout 2007, especially the publication of the serialized eight-chapter story about Thomas Paine and his New Jersey connections during the Revolutionary War.

Cynthia Forster, Marketing Development Director for Education at The Record, received the Hall of Fame Award for the long-term work she has done for the newspaper's NIE program.

First place in the "State and Regional Program" General Excellence category went to the Missouri Press Association. The New York Publishers Association tied with NJPF for second place.