Three Upper School students were honored this week in the 2021 Santa Clara Journalism Contest for their Literary Journalism Projects, a hallmark of OES's grade 11 English classes.
Amelia U. ‘22 won first place for her news story, "Our Children, Our Future: The Role of CASA's in the Foster Care System." Nico J. ‘22 was a finalist in the feature story category for his piece, "Tough Times and Good Luck" and Frances M. ‘22 was a finalist for her news story, "The Charitable Lines of a Broken System: Health Care for our Most Forgotten Citizens."
“The Literary Journalism Projects let students write about a topic of their choice to actively engage with the larger Portland community,” Upper School English Teacher Kara Tambellini said. “In this way, it's a great independent inquiry project that also helps students connect with and learn about Portland and the surrounding area. We encourage topics that focus on social justice and community engagement.”
Students explore a topic of interest through first-hand observation, conversation with an expert, and engagement with artifacts and published materials. They then gather information and write an article between eight to 10 pages in length. Works were submitted in July and the winners were announced this week.
“[Winning was] unexpected,” Amelia said. “The process of researching and writing was sort of all-consuming and was done for a class, not this competition, so I was not expecting to get an award.”
Nico elaborated: “I was proud of the piece I had written and viewed the project as successful, but I did not realize it would stand up against the competition. I went into it with the ‘well, it wouldn't hurt just to submit it’ mentality, so I am surprised and pleased with the outcome.”
A key goal of the Literary Journalism Project is employing the narrative techniques of the genre—scene painting, portraiture, analysis, the inclusion of personal voice, and writing with an overall purpose or angle in mind.
“Students love this assignment, although they are also terrified about it at the start of the year,” Tambellini said. “Without fail, it is the assignment kids are most nervous about and their favorite thing when they look back and reflect at the end of the year.”
Frances said her favorite moment of the project was an interview. “I was speaking with Molly Pringle, executive director at Portland Street Medicine, and I was struck by how passionate she is about her work. The things that they do every day aren't easy, and I know it takes quite a toll, but Molly just seemed so joyful and glad to be doing the work she was doing.”
It’s important for OES students to explore topics in this way “to break out of their bubble” Amelia said. “OES is a small community, and while that comes with many advantages, it's crucial that we interact and learn about the world around us.”
Frances agreed: “Projects like these are important because of the freedom you have to explore. OES gives us the time and resources to work on them, and they're an excellent way to discover things in which you are interested or passionate.”
All three students thanked their teachers for helping them through the process including Tambellini, Upper School English Department Chair and Teacher Christopher Miller, and Associate Head of School and Upper School English Teacher Peter Kraft.