The Lincoln Lore, the newspaper of Pleasant Grove charter school Lincoln Academy took home the junior high Best of Show award at the Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association's National High School Journalism Convention on Nov. 14 in Washington, D.C.
The convention had a record-breaking attendance of nearly 6,400, with students representing 45 states and D.C, and England and South Korea.
"It was really exciting to win," said newspaper advisor Mary Seal. Seal had high praise for her students' efforts. "I'm really proud of them. This really is their newspaper," she said.
In addition to the Best of Show award, three students received superior ratings for their writing: Marinda McKenzie for feature writing, Kaitlynn Seal for opinion writing, and Monica Hymas for news writing.
Twenty-nine students and 16 parent chaperones attended the convention, which consisted of a variety of classes and lectures, as well as awards. One of the highlights of the trip was a tour of Washington, D.C., where students visited the Capitol, White House, major monuments and memorials in D.C., Library of Congress, Arlington Cemetery and several museums, where students learned of the importance of liberty and the freedom of the press.
"I think that seeing the Holocaust museum in person had the most impact on me as a person because of all of the horrible things that happened," said Shelby Bishop, a beginning journalism student. "It is horrifying to see that as journalists we are ignoring some of the terrible things that are happening still today in Africa and other parts of the world. We have the power, through the freedom of the press, and the duty to stand up and say something."
The Lincoln Lore is a 20-page monthly edition where student journalists explore issues that relate to the local student body. School events and activities are covered, and students have investigated issues that have an impact on students' lives.
"In a recent issue of the newspaper, we wrote a story about eating disorders and conducted an anonymous poll of the junior high students," Seal said.
"We found out that it is a problem for junior high students at the school, and wrote what we hoped was a series of articles targeted toward helping. We also wrote about the obesity epidemic and school lunch nutrition," she said.
Seal said she only acts as advisor. The paper is the students' work. As deadlines approach, they may put in eight- to nine-hour days.
"The newspaper is 100 percent their efforts. Each student has a job -- we have jobs from reporters to photographers to ad managers," Seal said.
Approximately 60 students are involved in the school newspaper. About half of them are beginning journalism students, the others are members of the advanced staff, which takes a strong leadership role in producing the paper. The three editors-in-chief -- Marinda McKenzie, Kaitlynn Seal and Rachel Eldredge -- were appointed. They selected their staff, who applied with resumes and applications for other staff positions, including reporter, photographer, advertising and layout.
In addition to learning the investigative and creative processes, the journalism students are learning some of the realities of the business world. The students not only research and publish the news, they have had to sell advertising as well.
"They've had to fund their own program, the way a real newspaper would. Each student has to make a presentation," Seal said.
She praised the business community for their support; students have raised about $4,500 for the paper, which is enough to produce nine issues; and have color art on the front, back and centerfold of the paper.
This year is editor-in-chief McKenzie's third year working on the paper. She says she has developed some valuable skills.
"I've learned great life skills -- how to design, write well, how to talk to people and interview people," she said.
Seal said she is hoping they'll also learn something bigger -- the power that comes through the written and spoken word.
"The power of the press," Seal said, "even on a junior high level -- to do positive things, to educate, to inform and to offer resources for help -- is very real."
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