The St. Louis Jewish Light received four first-place awards from the American Jewish Press Association (AJPA) for stories the newspaper published in 2015.

AJPA, which represents Jewish media organizations, journalists and communications professionals, released the winners of the the 35th Annual Simon Rockower Awards, honoring excellence in Jewish journalism. 

The awards are judged by a  panel of professional journalists from around the nation. The Light’s awards were for newspapers with circulation of 14,999 and under. They were: 

• First place, Award for Excellence in Single Commentary, for “Of Confederate Flags and Statues of Anti-Semites,” by Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Robert A. Cohn

• First place, Award for Excellence in Editorial Writing, for “Misplaced Faith,” “Why Ferguson Matters” and “Can’t Tell Them Apart,” by Publisher/CEO Larry Levin and Robert A. Cohn

• First place, Award for Excellence in Social Justice Reporting, for “Our Kids and Anti-Semitism,” by Editor Ellen Futterman

• First place, Award for Excellence in a Multi-Media Story, for “St. Louis Jews, Muslims Join for Day of Community Service,” by staff writer Eric Berger.

AJPA will recognize award winners during its annual convention, taking place this year Nov. 14-16 in Washington, D.C.