Lakewood High School Newspaper Reclaims Number One Spot

There’s nothing quite like first place. 

Just ask and her team of junior editors and reporters over at The Lakewood Times who earned the number one spot in their division at this year’s Ohio Scholastic Media Association Convention & Banquet (OSMA) held at Kent State on April 8-9. 

The publication regained its footing after last year’s second place finish with hard-hitting stories about drug abuse among LHS students, conflicts over the dress code and the destructive effects of bullying in the classroom, student editor Fiza Shah said. 

“What set us apart, at times, was localizing national issues by figuring out how they related to the high school,” student editor Deven Middleton said. “Also, the second place finish last year really fueled our efforts to get to number one this year. The work took precedence, but our goal to be rated the best in our division definitely gave us some extra motivation.” 

Ballash noted the content was a key piece to winning, but she was most impressed by the 100 percent score they received in the leadership category which focused on journalism ethics, objectivity and the balancing of content. 

“Balanced content, news judgment and instilling strong ethics are some of the most important journalism fundamentals I teach,” she said. “…All of my students know and have memorized the first amendment and they realize it’s a right that needs to be exercised responsibly. I was very pleased with the perfect score in leadership because it reflects an important goal here at The Times.” 

The publication also won a good deal of individual honors as well, public relations specialist Christine Gordillo said. 

Staff members earned nine superior ratings, 10 excellent ratings and 10 honorable mentions in categories that included general feature, commentary, editorial writing, photography and page design. 

Editors Middleton, Shah and Alberto Rodriguez, who will be attending Ohio University, Kent State and Case Western, respectively, all plan on pursuing journalism and are eager to pass the torch to their peers in the hopes that The Times will win All-Ohio, OSMA’s top honor, next year.