Gilroy
– The high school’s student newspaper is vying for the
prestigious Pacemaker Award for the second consecutive year.
The Free Press, produced by journalism students at Gilroy High
School, won the highest honor given to high school newspapers last
November, the first time it was nominated.
”
It feels really great,
”
said Elizabeth Dirks, GHS journalism teacher.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – The high school’s student newspaper is vying for the prestigious Pacemaker Award for the second consecutive year.
The Free Press, produced by journalism students at Gilroy High School, won the highest honor given to high school newspapers last November, the first time it was nominated.
“It feels really great,” said Elizabeth Dirks, GHS journalism teacher.
Dirks has seen The Free Press steadily improve since starting up the journalism program four years ago.
Before she joined, the publication was produced by a handful of students as an after-school activity.
Now, the paper is printed once each month and the 31-student staff, led by Editors in Chief Eric Smith and Alex Williams, excels at providing quality campus coverage.
“They became even better writers than the prior year, and I think their coverage was once again superior to what other schools can do,” Dirks said. “I think the reason is, some schools aren’t able to do the kind of stories we’re able to do. … If we didn’t have an administration that backed a First Amendment student newspaper, we wouldn’t be as good as we are.”
The National Scholastic Press Association and the Newspaper Association of America award 20 Pacemakers to papers in three size categories – 16 pages and under, like the Free Press; 17 pages and over; and news magazines. Publications are judged by professional journalists, based on criteria such as coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership on the opinion page, evidence of in-depth reporting, and design and graphics.
Pacemaker winners will be announced on Nov. 20.
Dirks said the Free Press staff will be fundraising and seeking business sponsorships so 24 students can attend.
The Free Press also recently received Quill and Scroll’s first place award for its 2003-04 publications, while the yearbook received a silver medal from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.
GHS journalism students will continue to improve the quality of their paper, Dirks said.
“We really focused last year on revamping the design of our paper and taking it a step up, and this year, we’re going to continue taking it further,” she said. Students are working on re-designing The Free Press, Dirks said, and added a features editor to the staff.
For more information on the Pacemaker Award, visit www.studentpress.org/nspa.
