The Border Belt Independent won five awards at the North Carolina Press Association’s annual ceremony on Thursday.

Editor Sarah Nagem and reporters Rachel Baldauf and Ben Rappaport won individual awards. So did Ivey Schofield, who left the BBI last year to attend law school, and Kerria Weaver, who was an intern at BBI before accepting a job with The Arizona Republic in Phoenix.

The BBI took home three first-place awards in the online division:

• Baldauf and Rappaport won first place in the General News Reporting category: At UNC Pembroke, frustrations about safety reach fever pitch following shootings

• Nagem won first place in the Profile Feature category: How a high school dropout is leading a rural NC community college through major growth

• Schofield won first place in the Education Reporting category: A Robeson County preacher is on a quest to ban books. The school district says no way

The BBI took home two second-place awards in the online division:

• Baldauf won second place in the Profile Feature category: Partners in Ministry helps kids become ‘change agents’ in their communities

• Weaver won second place in the Feature Writing category: Recalling ‘Principal’s Row,’ a Whiteville street home to Black educators

Judging was based on entries published between March 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024.

The North Carolina Press Association represents most community and daily newspapers across the state, as well as a growing number of online-only news organizations.