HiLite staff members won 10 Gold Circle awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA). Certificates were awarded to work published in the print HiLite and online during the 2011-2012 school year.

The Gold Circle Awards attracted 15,947 entries from newspapers, magazines, yearbooks and digital media from colleges, universities and secondary schools throughout the United States, marking a competitive year for the 30-year old CSPA contest. This year, members of the HiLite continued a tradition of excellence by winning these top national awards from the organization.

Junior Omeed Malek won a Certificate of Merit in photo slideshows.Junior Hafsa Razi won two Certificates of Merit in non-fiction articles and general features.
Juniors Rachel Chen and Elyse Goldberg won Third Place Certificates in Interactive graphics.
The HiLite staff won a Third Place Certificate for the typography featured on the HiLite Online, a Second Place Certificate for Headline writing on the site, and a First Place Certificate for online editorial cartoons.
Junior Claudia Huang won a Second Place Certificate in in-depth news/feature stories.
Freshman Kyle Crawford won a First Place Certificate in photo slideshows.
Junior Matt Wehner won a First Place Certificate in sports features.