GILROY
– Gilroy boasts a nationally ranked newspaper, produced by
teen-age editors, writers, photographers and columnists.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Gilroy boasts a nationally ranked newspaper, produced by teen-age editors, writers, photographers and columnists.
Gilroy High School’s The Free Press received the Pacemaker Award – the highest honor bestowed upon high school and college newspapers – from the National Scholastic Press Association and Newspaper Association of America on Sunday.
“We were floored,” adviser Elizabeth Dirks said. “This was pretty much in my five- to eight-year plan, so to get a Pacemaker by the second year is pretty amazing. Especially since it wasn’t a strong program that I came in to; it was a nonexistent program.”
Some schools have been striving for a Pacemaker for more than a decade, Dirks said.
When Dirks came to GHS in 2001, students published The Free Press as an extracurricular activity. Now, it sets the standard for high school journalism.
“We just need to maintain now,” Dirks said. “It’s kind of a lot of pressure, but, yeah, there’s really nowhere else to go, this is the top of the line.”
The Free Press was one of 13 high schools in the country, four of which were from California, to win the award for papers with 16 pages or fewer. Five newspapers with 17 or more pages won, as did three news magazines.
Dirks and three members of the current Free Press staff, who also worked on the paper last year, attended the NSPA’s four-day Fall National High School Journalism Convention in Washington, D.C. to receive the high school equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. The students received two plaques, one for being a Pacemaker finalist and one for the award itself. After the ceremony, the Free Press representatives rushed to spread the good news, calling last year’s Editor-in-Chief Megan Stevens before calling Principal Bob Bravo and other GHS students.
“I couldn’t believe it, I was so shocked,” said Stevens, who is now a freshman at the University of California at Los Angeles. “It’s not that I didn’t think that we could compete, but it was an honor just being nominated. I never expected to have any sort of major national recognition for what I did, I thought we were just having fun and putting something out there for our students, and that was enough for me.”
Stevens said the news came as an even bigger shock because she wasn’t expecting it.
“It slipped my mind that they were even there, so when I got the phone call, I was completely blown away,” she said.
Alex Williams, a junior who edits the paper’s entertainment section, attended the convention with Dirks. While everyone was surprised that they won, she said, the Pacemaker was hard-earned.
“We worked really hard, and I think in a lot of ways, we deserve this, and Ms. Dirks deserves this,” she said. “We’re at the top, so we just have to maintain.”
The 26-member Free Press staff have already begun improving the paper by revamping the design and the Spanish language page.
“I think in the past, our front page has been a little bland,” said Anthony Lucio, the graphics and layout editor for the GHS yearbook and a Free Press staff writer. “It may have a lot of good articles, but without a visual appeal, you’re not attracted to read them.”
The new front page has a streamlined nameplate and strategically placed blocks of color.
“I definitely think that if last year’s paper got the recognition that it did, then this year it will … get even more,” Lucio said.
While The Free Press has always had a Spanish page with translated articles, the page now includes original Spanish-language articles and editorials.
“Whenever we go to one of these conferences, people fall over themselves talking about our Spanish page,” Dirks said.
George Santiago, the page’s editor, said he wants to engage students on campus who still struggle to read English.
“(People) will know that there are some Spanish speakers that want to know what is going on at school,” Santiago said.
Bravo credited Dirks with bringing The Free Press to distinction.
“I think she’s just an amazing, professional person, especially because of her experience before teaching,” Bravo said. Dirks was editor-in-chief of The Gavilan College Rambler and worked in public relations prior to joining GHS.
“It is an absolute blessing to have a staff member like that. But that really is the kids’ paper, is how she runs it, so they’re right up there in deserving the credit. We were happy with the paper last year, but … the paper this year looks just as good, if not better.”
The award is especially meaningful to Dirks because this is the 75th year the NSPA has sponsored the competition – the NAAF has been a co-sponsor for 32 years – and the papers were judged by The Washington Post staff.
Judges select Pacemakers based on :
– coverage and content
– quality of writing and reporting
– leadership on the opinion page
– evidence of in-depth reporting
– design, photography, art and graphics.
For more information on the Pacemaker, visit www.studentpress.org/nspa/
index.html
