Six Dos Pueblos High students — all members of the Kids Speaking Up writing project and Noozhawk contributors — were among the winners of the 2009 California Press Women High School Journalism Contest, part of the National Press Women High School Journalism Competition. The honorees are seniors Sophie Eve D’Arcy and Alex Pearson and freshmen Isabelle D’Arcy, Katie Fearon, Dillon Nadler and Nicholas Sterner.
Co-founded in 2004 by the D’Arcy sisters and their friend, Ben Raderstorf, Kids Speaking Up boasts 40 student members who explore current events and write about them. The organization — with chapters at Dos Pueblos, Goleta Family School and Goleta Valley Junior High — publishes an annual magazine of essays, poems and opinion pieces. In addition, an essay is published weekly on Noozhawk in a partnership that began at the start of the 2008-2009 school year.
Two of the winners received honorable mention certificates in the features category for their articles published on Noozhawk. Fearon won for her essay on the nuclear energy debate while Nadler won for his article on male eating disorders. Click here to read Fearon’s essay. Click here to read Nadler’s.
Four other awards were given for work appearing in Kids Speaking Up Magazine. Isabelle D’Arcy earned a second-place award in the features category for her satirical piece headlined “Real Women Wear Stilettos.” She, Sophie D’Arcy and Sterner won third-place awards in the environment category for their interview with environmentalist and ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau.
Pearson received an honorable mention in the opinion category for his magazine piece, “ Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You,” which draws parallels between patriotism and fascism.
Click here to view all of Noozhawk’s Kids Speaking Up series.
— Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen can be reached at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com.