Arlington School & Family Magazine May/June 2016 | Page 37
Finely-Crafted
Writing Earns
Lamar Senior
Top Honors
Top Editorial Writer
By Ken Perkins
Jasmine S. is known around Lamar High School as
an activist masquerading as a writer. The description
suits her just fine.
She’s quick to fire off an opinion in Lamar’s Viking
Scroll news source when something outrages her
– whether it’s Donald Trump supporters or the
shallowness of Black History Month.
categories such as news and sports reporting, long
features, reviews, photography, headlines, and video
reporting. Newsroom professionals at The News
judged the work. “Why Black History Sucks” was
cited for its “lively writing” and points Jasmine
made in laying out the argument that history
dealing with African-Americans must go beyond
the usual suspects of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and
Rosa Parks.
Her work isn’t just provocative, but well written
and finely crafted. In fact, when the Dallas Morning
News handed out awards during its 25th annual High
School Journalism Day and Competition, Jasmine
found her editorial “Why Black History Sucks” tops
among 45 public and private schools.
“Yet they rarely do,” Jasmine said. “If we do
anything, it’s repetitive. There are so many people
who have contributed but you never hear about
them. Others need to be recognized, too.”
“It’s a really tough competition since it’s open up
to all area schools,” said her journalism teacher,
Diann Whaley. “She was the only award winner
from the AISD.”
Jasmine has been with The Viking Scroll since her
sophomore year and is planning to do similar work
at Howard University in Washington, D.C., this fall.
As for her long-term future, she wants to major in
political science and perhaps head off to law school
after snagging her undergraduate degree.
Lamar’s journalism students are on a roll, in fact.
Junior Angelina A. recently received a full-ride
scholarship to the highly competitive Bob Schieffer
Summer Journalism Camp at TCU.
And after that? “I’d like to practice law for a little
while but later get into politics,” she said. “There are
so many things I’d like to see reformed.”
The Dallas Morning News annual competition
drew about 1,250 entries from student journalists in
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