Student Journalists At 3 Fairfax County High Schools Honored By Board

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Fairfax County Board of Supervisors presented a proclamation at its meeting on Tuesday recognizing student journalists at Chantilly, McLean and West Springfield high schools who were among the 28 schools nationally to receive a 2024 First Amendment Press Freedom Award.

This was the 10th year in a row that Chantilly High School has won a First Amendment Press Freedom Award, the seventh consecutive award for McLean High School, and second consecutive award for West Springfield High School.

The awards were announced in February and the schools were honored at the Journalism Education Association- National Scholastic Press Association Spring National High School Journalism Convention during an awards ceremony on April 4.

The First Amendment Press Freedom Award is presented to high schools that actively support, teach and protect First Amendment rights. In particular, the award focuses on media programs where students make the final decision of content.

"So far this year, we've been able to cover student protests for Gaza, bathroom vandalism, and issues regarding student privacy," said Luke Barlow, executive producer of the Knightly News Broadcast at Chantilly High. "None of this would be possible without our ability to freely exercise our freedom of the press at Chantilly High School. We are very fortunate to attend a school where we are not limited by censorship or prior review. That allows us to share really important stories with our community."

Tanner Coerr, editor-in-chief of The Highlander newspaper at McLean High, thanked the school's administration for its ongoing support. "It was so crucial in allowing us to consistently push further as journalists and allowing us to uphold our reputation as the trusted voice of McLean High School and McLean community," he said.

Lucy Saadvandi, editor-in-chief of The Olympian, West Springfield High School's yearbook, told the supervisors that she was grateful that she and her colleagues were able to cover current events that affect students without fear of censorship.

"I am so thankful to be part of a program that encourages student voices and encourages us to find stories worth telling and that represent our student body and reflect their feelings," she said.

In reading the board resolution, Chairman Jeff McKay noted that journalism had changed a lot in his lifetime and not all for the better.

"We are seeing a lack of local coverage. We're seeing obvious bias a lot of times in our local media and we wonder sometimes why people in our community are confused about what's going on. To be able to win this the way you have and to give us hope for the future, that there's still good integrity in journalism and accuracy, transparency and the reporting is absolutely key. I just hope all of you stick with it."