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Laura Harris
Tough.
That’s the best word to describe the competition in this year’s Education News Writers and Photographers of Alberta (EdNews) Awards competition.
The awards, established by the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) to recognize the important role that Alberta newspapers play in promoting public education issues, events and achievements, went to a crop of writers and photographers who provided some of the best news coverage in the 28-year history of the awards.
This year’s winners are
- Sarah McGinnis, Calgary Herald, for educational news coverage in a daily newspaper;
- Christopher Walsh and Leah Simeniuk, Stettler Independent, for educational news coverage in a weekly newspaper;
- Larry Wong, Edmonton Journal, for educational photography in a daily newspaper; and
- Rodney Oracheski, Wainwright Star Chronicle, and Cathy Weetman, Lamont Leader, for educational photography in a weekly newspaper.
Sarah McGinnis impressed the ATA’s independent panel of judges with her ability to capture “good discussions” on a variety of topics. Her in-depth articles covered cyberbullying, P3 schools, book bans and new teachers. McGinnis enlightened Herald readers by looking at issues through the eyes of students, teachers, administrators, lawyers, social service agencies and educational policy analysts.
Christopher Walsh and Leah Simeniuk, both reporters with the Stettler Independent at the time their entries were submitted, scored big with judges for their fresh approaches to the voting laws governing trustee elections in Catholic school districts, the special recognition of a first-year teacher, school district expansion and the influence of escalating construction costs on school board budgets.
“It’s a huge honour,” said Walsh. “As a community newspaper reporter, you hope your writing reaches as many people as possible, especially when a big issue erupts in front of you that you know everyone in the province should know about. As a reporter, you write to be read and the fact that a group outside journalism’s rank-and-file takes note is not only an honour, it’s a sense that you’ve accomplished something.”
Larry Wong’s photo of elementary school students carolling at Edmonton’s city hall captured the charm and innocence of children during the Christmas season. Wong says that photographs are a positive way to communicate the good things about public education.
“For the past 20 years I have had the opportunity to express myself visually through my pictures that have been published in the Edmonton Journal. I have met students, teachers, school principals and educators who have enlightened me with stories and issues regarding Alberta’s education system,” said Wong. “As a photojournalist, I try to illustrate these stories through candid photographs with visual impact. I am honoured to have one of my photographs chosen as the winner in the daily newspaper category of the EdNews Writers and Photographers of Alberta Awards. I want to thank the ATA for recognizing newspaper photographs as an effective means of promoting public awareness of education.”
Photography is part of Rodney Oracheski’s job as sports editor of the Wainwright Star Chronicle. He enjoys covering the local high school football team because he sees the positive effects that the coach and the experience of teamwork have on students. To get his award-winning shot, he really put himself on the line!
“The players are generally shorter than me. You get a lot of shots aiming down towards them, so I tried lying down next to the field and William [the ominous-looking linebacker in the shot] caught that guy coming across and turned him upside down! I was just in the right place at the right time,” said Oracheski.
The judges praised Cathy Weetman’s shot of an elementary school Christmas concert featuring a distracted little girl.
“I am both excited and honoured to receive this award from the ATA in the weekly photography category. I’ve worked as a reporter and photographer for over a decade, and I always look forward to school Christmas concerts because the expressions on the children’s faces, particularly those in kindergarten and Grade 1, are priceless. I was particularly drawn to the little ‘sheep’ on the front of the stage, who seemed to be more interested in looking out at the audience (or was it my camera?) than what was going on in the Nativity scene. Kids are natural actors, and sometimes despite the best efforts of the teachers to get them to pay attention, kids are always curious, and the result was this photograph.”
The winners of this year’s EdNews Awards are extremely worthy, but the ATA would be remiss if it didn’t acknowledge the work of all the dedicated journalists, who are committed to creating awareness of key issues facing public education, and the photographers, who capture images that define education’s many achievements.
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