Fremont Students Win Coveted Journalism Award

FREMONT, CA — Mission San Jose High School is producing the next generation of journalists. The school's Smoke Signal student newspaper received a Gold Crown Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for digital news published during the 2020-21 school year.

It's one of just 13 member schools out of 817 eligible publications to receive the award.

The Smoke Signal moved to an online format during the pandemic.

"This achievement demonstrates the skills and creativity our students develop and strengthen under the guidance of our world-class educators," said Fremont Unified School District Superintendent CJ Cammack. "I send my congratulations to the Smoke Signal for this recognition."

The award recognizes the "overall excellence in the entire publication," according to the press association.

The Journalism class that produces the paper is student run, with editors and managers who report to two editors-in-chief who then report to their adviser, teacher Sandra Cohen.

"Being the Smoke Signal Adviser has been so rewarding and is a natural fit based on my prior 20 year career in advertising and marketing," said Cohen. "It's truly a privilege to guide students who are so motivated and self directed."

The Smoke Signal now publishes a 20-page newspaper every four weeks during the school year.