Eisenhower senior Lauren Kostiuk was named "Michigan High School Journalist of the Year" through the Journalism Education Association (JEA), in addition to being named to the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association (MIPA) All-State Journalism Staff.
"Lauren leads our newspaper staff with strength, flexibility, and grace under pressure," Eisenhower Publications adviser Erica Kincannon said. "As Editor-in-Chief of a state and national award winning newspaper with high expectations for a repeat performance, Lauren continually works with her staffers to develop camaraderie, an open environment for asking questions, and consequences for not meeting deadline. She is a strong leader and a dedicated journalist. I am so proud of her well-deserved accomplishments being named to the All-State staff and as Michigan Journalist of the Year."
Kostiuk, Editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper The Eagle's Eye and student website Ikenews.com, will represent Michigan in national competition through her portfolio. The national high school journalist will be announced at the JEA conference April 13 in San Diego, Calif.
Kostiuk will also be honored at MIPA's annual spring conference on April 22 in Lansing. Selection for the All-State Journalism Staff was based on submission of a detailed portfolio, including: letters of recommendation, a resume, clips of work and a personal essay.
One MIPA judge wrote Kostiuk: "I had the absolute pleasure of going through your portfolio, and I was awe-struck by what I saw; my colleagues on the MIPA board and I were unanimous in our choice for Journalist of the Year. Without fail, they all commented on the journalistic prowess evident in your portfolio."
In addition to her heavy involvement on newspaper staff, Kostiuk is a member of the National Honor Society, the National Art Honor Society and Quill and Scroll Journalism Honor Society. She recently earned a Silver Key and four Honorable Mentions for her writing and photography in the Scholastics art and writing competition.
Kostiuk was one of 15 students to participate in the Dow Jones summer camp hosted by the Detroit Free Press, where wrote daily stories, toured the Free Press and networked with journalists and broadcasters during the summer before her junior year.
She also attended the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association (MIPA) intensive summer workshop held at Michigan State University, where she took a feature writing class and was a member of theUpstart online website.
Kostiuk maintains her own blog and website, and takes college photography classes to advance her skills. She plans to pursue her journalism career at Columbia College Chicago.
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