On Wednesday May 28, the Loudoun Now Excellence in Journalism Awards were held at Loudoun County High School to recognize talented student journalists.
NBC Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey hosted the awards ceremony with judges coming from community leaders and business owners. This event saw 12 different participating schools, including Briar Woods, and 64 nominees from all over the county. From Briar Woods High School, Nevie Billis and Saisha Devarajan were nominated for the categories of “Feature Writing” and “News Writing,” while Mickle Joseph was nominate for her photography work.
The winners of the grand prize were Sanvi Challa and Melissa Waas from Rock Ridge High School for their news story titled “Smoking Out the Truth Surrounding Rock Ridge’s New HALO Smart Sensors,” which informed students about the new detectors in most high schools in the county. The competition is completely free to enter and awards winners receive 5,000 dollars in cash prizes as well as the opportunity to intern at Loudoun Now.
Jeff Rounsely, Loudoun County Public School Director of Teaching and Learning, commented on the skills student journalists learn saying “they’re learning the skills to be critical and to be thoughtful and to be thinking, and those are the things that are going to make a difference in our world.”(Loudoun Now)
