At this year’s McCormick Foundation High School Media Awards ceremony, held March 11 at the Chicago Cultural Center, Steinmetz College Prep senior Michael Amaya was awarded Journalist of the Year for his overall involvement with journalism and his school’s newspaper, the Steinmetz Star. Amaya has worked as a reporter and editor for the newspaper and edited for his school yearbook.

Why News Matters reporter Clare Curley caught up with Amaya to find out how he’s taking the news.

CC: Congratulations on your award! You said you were stunned. How are you feeling now?

MA: I’m still overjoyed. My writing is one of the few things I’ll accept praise for, so to win an award and receive a scholarship is just amazing. I can’t thank the McCormick Foundation enough—not just because I won but because they acknowledge talent in young journalists.

CC: An article you wrote questioned your school’s new policy requiring seniors to stay on campus during their eighth period lunch break – a policy that didn’t exist until 2012. Did I get that right?

MA: The article mentioned in my nomination letter (written by my newspaper adviser Sharon Schmidt) is one I was very proud of.  And yes, you did get the background of my story correct.

CC: What prompted you to write this story and why was it important to you?

MA: Since the change was made, students kept asking, “Why?” but never really searched for an answer or solution, so that’s what I did. Eighth period lunch for seniors felt like a tradition and somewhat of a reward for seniors. I say that knowing most seniors have after school jobs they need to get to and since a senior’s typical schedule is filled with electives. So getting to leave a bit early was something to look forward to.

CC: Did a lot of research go into the story?

MA: Knowing this story would get a lot of students’ attention, I wanted to make sure all of my facts were correct. I looked into older newspaper articles, did Internet research, and interviewed the head of the lunch staff and school principal Stephen Ngo (both on more than one occasion).

CC: What attracts you to journalism?

MA: I’ve always loved writing. I guess, in a way, words come easily to me. As a usually shy person, I could speak up through the written words in my articles. Also, to me journalism and newspapers are a great source of information. I feel students (and people in general) should be well informed about what’s going on around them.

CC: Your award includes a $1,500 scholarship to college. What impact will this have on you? Do you know whether you’ll stay involved in journalism?

MA: This amount may not seem like much to others, but for me personally, every dollar counts. As someone from a lower class working family I’ve never had a college fund to rely on. This will really help me. It’s also motivation that I can go to college and it won’t be a complete financial burden.

CC: In Feb. 2013 you blogged: “The only stride I’ve made so far is going through high school unscathed.” What a difference a year makes.

MA: I know it sounds cliché, but I’ve never really won an award, so I’m a bit over the moon right now.

 

Categories: News & Updates, Stuff for Students