SK Graduate in the News: Congratulations, Katie!

Sometimes people ask me what happens to our students after they graduate from Summers-Knoll. Of course, they go many and varied routes and do many and varied things, but right now Katie O'Brien, a Summers-Knoll middle school graduate and currently a senior at Community High, is part of a team that works on the Communicator, the Community High School student-run newspaper. Katie and her fellow journalists recently found out that their work is up for the highly prestigious Pacemaker award, and they will be going to Washington DC for the ceremony. As Katie told me, 'We are 1 of 7 news-magazine style school papers up for the Pacemaker award which is considered the Pulitzer of scholastic journalism.' There is an annarbor.com article about it here.

Katie told me how she found out about it:

"A few weeks ago, Tracy, our adviser for Communicator, pulled up the web page for National Scholastic Press Association to talk about our upcoming trip to D.C. There is a convention ever year where they hand out awards. So we are looking through the pages of different awards and when she gets to the Pacemaker she starts scrolling really really slowly then stops and we see the cover of the Communicator and we're all really excited. She had known for a while but was pretending she didn't. It surprised all of us, because the Communicator has never been up for this award! She was a good actress, because some people thought she hadn't known and were asking why NSPA wouldn't contact her."

So, congratulations, Katie! I'm so proud of you! I can't help thinking back to the days of our 'Gorgeous Writing' EBs, when you really started writing with joy. Remember the hot chocolate? Have a great time on your trip to Washington DC, enjoy the awards ceremony - and whether the Communicator wins or not, know that your hard work and creative spirit have paid off and you have made a difference. I can't wait to see what you do next!