THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 22, 1994 TAG: 9407220054
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEENA INES, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
IT WAS LATE and the pressure was mounting when Ryan Keefer slammed together a story on vandalism in less than an hour for the front page of Great Bridge High School's paper.
Ryan had toiled over other articles for the paper, but it was the swiftly written piece, which he describes as ``fairly good,'' that put him in the winner's circle of the 1994 High School Newspaper Writing and Photography Contest.
The contest, sponsored by The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger Star and Norfolk State University's journalism department, was open to all public and private high schools in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Chesapeake.
``The purpose of the contest was to honor those students who had done very good work, and for them to recognize that what they're doing is important,'' said Denise Watson, a reporter for The Pilot and one of the contest's judges.
Prizes were awarded in news, features, editorials, sports and photography. There was also an award for the best high school newspaper. Two local high schools - Great Bridge and Cox - took the top awards in every category.
On what the judges looked for, Watson said: ``I tended to look for something different. If the angle was different. Did they take a different approach? And creativity.''
First-place winners received a plaque and a $100 savings bond. The best publication was awarded $500.
Ryan, 16, a rising junior at Great Bridge High School, was surprised to learn he had won first place in the news category for his article on vandalism in his school. Ryan, the assistant sports editor, had entered another story in the sports category that he thought had a better chance of winning.
On the night of layout, Ryan and the other editors discovered they had no story to run on the front page. ``I thought (the winning article) was fairly good. I put my best effort into everything I write,'' Ryan said.
Pam Rhodes, 17, a rising senior at Great Bridge, has been studying journalism for two years. Still, the first-place award for editorial writing left her surprised.
Pam's journalism adviser entered the editorial about an absence and tardy policy that negatively affected the grades of students.
``It was something that affected the entire student body,'' Pam said, ``and I know a lot of us strongly disagreed with it.''
Pam was passionate about the issue, which made writing it easy. ``The hardest challenge,'' she said, ``is when you get a piece that you're not really enthused about writing, but you try to make it appealing, not only to yourself, but to the reader.''
Winning first place for the best sports story was quite an accomplishment for Becky Julian, 17, a rising senior, considering it was her first year on Great Bridge's paper.
Becky was reluctant to write the story about citywide sports programs. ``They made me write it,'' she said. ``I don't even like sports.''
Becky said the reason her article won the contest was because it was unique.
``I guess it wasn't an everyday sports article about what the teams are doing,'' she said. ``It was different.''
Great Bridge High also took the best-publication award.
``We were a lot more organized and had a strong editor-in-chief,'' said Tara Vitek, a rising senior who was features editor at the student newspaper, The Bridge. ``We knew we produced a good paper, but it was still a surprise.''
A rising senior at Cox High School, Deena Ines, 17, took first place in the features category. Her story dealt with teenagers and their views on alcohol and drinking.
Though not involved in the writing process, Porter Mason is a strong contributor to the Cox High paper. Ever since he was 4 years old, cartoon drawing has been a major part of Mason's life.
Porter, 16, a rising junior, didn't pay much attention when his advisor handed him an entry form and said, ``Fill this out. I'm going to enter one of your editorial cartoons.''
``I wasn't even sure which cartoon had been entered until I found out that I won,'' said Porter, who took first in the photo and graphic category.
For Porter, drawing comes naturally. ``The best cartoons are when the ideas just pop into my head.''
Several others were honored as winners. They were: photographic second place, Brian Booth of Granby High, third place, David Ramey of Woodrow Wilson High; editorial second place, Anthony Williams of Salem High, third place Kristopher Patterson of Granby; news second place, Casey Logan of Maury High, third place, Angela Clark of Granby; sports second place, Erika Mein of Maury, third place, Suni Farrar of Salem; features second place, Johnny Dunn of Cox, third place, Teena Wise of Wilson.
Maury News, Maury High's paper, won second in the publications category and a check for $300. The Spectator, Granby High's paper, took third place and a $100 check. MEMO: Deena Ines is a student at Cox High School. She wrote this story as part
of the newspapers' eighth annual Minority Journalism Workshop. Fellow
participant Chanda Farrow contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Porter Mason's editorial cartoon won first place in the photo and
graphic category. Porter is a rising junior at Cox High School.
Pam Rhodes
Becky Julian
Ryan Keefer
Porter Mason
Deena Ines
by CNB