Mountlake Terrace High School students in the Hawks Student Media (HSM) program fared well in the Washington Journalism Education Association’s (WJEA) Spring State Conference contest held at MTHS earlier this month. Longtime MTHS journalism educator/advisor Vince DeMiero also received special recognition during the March 4 award ceremony.

HSM encompasses all student media at MTHS – from The Hawkeye newspaper, to the Tempo yearbook and broadcast operations. Here are the MTHS student winners:

News Writing – J Gurney, freshman, Honorable Mention
Editorial Writing – Lucas Barquin, freshman, Honorable Mention
Feature Writing – Mika Raring, junior, Superior
Sports Writing – Miles Young, sophomore, Honorable Mention
Review Writing – Aubrey Subaykan, freshman, Honorable Mention
Copy Editing – Maggie O’Hara, senior, Superior
Layout & Design, Newspaper – Rachel Davis, senior, and Arabella Devera, junior, Honorable Mention
Feature Photo, Newspaper – Seras Bryner, junior, Excellent
Feature Photo, Yearbook – Efrata Solomon, sophomore, Honorable Mention
Sports Photo, Newspaper – Emmalee Harmon, sophomore, Superior
Sports Photo, Yearbook – Hunter Michaelson, senior, Honorable Mention
News Website – Maggie O’Hara, Cecilia Negash (seniors) & Kaylee Miyamoto (sophomore), Excellent
Broadcast News Story – Magnolia Ungerleider, sophomore, and Skyler MacKay, sophomore, Honorable Mention
Broadcast Feature Video – Henry Obare, senior, Honorable Mention

According to DeMiero, the superior award — received by three MTHS students — “is exceedingly difficult to earn at any level and they’re quite rare at the state and national conventions.”

Additionally during the conference, the high school’s administrative team — along with Edmonds School District Superintendent Rebecca Miner, Assistant Superintendent Greg Schwab and the District Board of Directors — were presented a special commendation by the WJEA Board and Executive Director Kathy Schrier for their leadership in developing and unanimously approving the district’s new student freedom of expression policy. The Student Press Law Center’s top lawyer, Mike Hiestand, was in the audience for the presentation and stated that this policy is the “best in the country,” DeMiero said.

DeMiero received the WJEA Dorothy McPhillips Award, named for a long-time and highly respected Washington state journalism educator, former WJEA president and board member and former president of the national Journalism Education Association.

The nomination letter stated that “it is high time that Vincent DeMiero should be included on the list of Dorothy McPhillips Award recipients. For his continuous effort to ensure student press rights in our state and our country, Vince has devoted many years to ensuring that student voices can be heard through a free student press. He has served at the national level on the JEA Student Press Rights Committee since the 1990s and has testified before numerous legislative hearings on why student press freedom laws are needed. Most recently, at his urging, the Edmonds School District passed a landmark policy stating that prior review of student media content is not an accepted practice by school administrators. Vince has received many awards at state and national levels (NSPA Pioneer Award, JEA Medal of Merit, WJEA Adviser of the Year twice, Dow Jones Distinguished Adviser) but I believe the Dorothy McPhillips Distinguished Service Award would be especially meaningful to him, as it recognizes the enormous difference that he has made in elevating the role of student journalism in our schools.”