Journalist of the Year

Prepare your entry for the Georgia Stilwell Dunn Ohio Journalist of the Year scholarship competition now!

This is a chance for your students to showcase their work and get recognized for their dedication to journalism. Not sure how to instruct your students on the JOY portfolio submissions? Check out the online tutorials to help you and your students prep for success. The Ohio winner will be announced at the state convention awards banquet but will have already been entered into the Journalism Education Association’s national Journalist of the Year competition. 1.) Create a digital portfolio of journalistic work by creating a website with links to student work in the 11 categories outlined by JEA (news gathering, writing, editing, design, multimedia broadcast, photojournalism, web, law and ethics, leadership and team building, news literacy and entrepreneurship). For more direction, view the JEA Rubric and tips for polishing your portfolio.

Prepare required contest materials to attach to application:

• Official high school transcript or a counselor’s statement including journalism classes taken, grades and current GPA. Student should be a high school senior and should have an overall GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

• Action photo of applicant involved in some aspect of student media, and an extended caption written for that photo. If there is more than one dominant subject in the photo, please use location of candidate (left, right, etc.).

• Three letters of recommendation from those who know the applicant well and understand the impact of the journalistic experience on the student’s life

• Personal résumé.

• Self-analytical essay: Students should write with passion and make an impact on the judges because this essay functions as the applicant’s one-on-one interview with the judges. Essay should not exceed two pages in length

*These pieces should be emailed as attachments. Please do not put personal information (such as student address) in the online portfolio.

Email submission material, including a link to the student online portfolio and the required attachments, to Julieanne McClain, JEA State Director, at [email protected].

For more information on how to enter, visit the JEA website.

Deadline to enter for this school year is February 12, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.

RECENT JOY WINNERS

• 2023 — James Underwood, Upper Arlington High School (Robin Mollica, Adviser)

• 2022 — Callia Peterson, Upper Arlington High School (Robin Mollica, Adviser)

• 2021 — Sama Ben Amer, Dublin Scioto High School (Amanda Leahy, Adviser)

• 2020 — Anna Mullins, Lakota East High School (Dean Hume, Adviser)

• 2019 — Jacob Fulton, Olentangy Orange High School (Kari Phillips and Brian Nicola, advisers)

• 2018 — Julieanne Ford, Lakota East High School (Dean Hume, adviser)

• 2017 — Emma Stiefel, Lakota East High School (Dean Hume, adviser)