Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Rappahannock News Entry Title: Coverage of education in Rappahannock County Entry Credit: Ben Peters Judge Comment: Very interesting and thorough reporting;
Several voices to weigh in on the various issues; sources provide balance throughout; conversational style - not academic or jargon-ey. This reporter is someone to keep an eye on.
Enterprising articles and using data;
Excellent student feature
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: The Recorder Entry Title: Schools under stress Entry Credit: Tammy Minnigh Judge Comment: *Wow!! What a mess this school board is. Great work keeping it all straight and trying to give everyone a chance to speak. Excellent use of quotes - tight and pointed. Good transitions - makes the story easy to follow. This reporter is going places!
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: The Smithfield Times Entry Title: Ipads, investigations, marching Entry Credit: Stephen Faleski Judge Comment: The culture wars in schools - you can't beat it! Long and thorough coverage of school board machinations over iPad apps - everyone had a lot to say and Faleski made sure readers knew it.
Place Name: Alternate Winner Contestant Name: The Tidewater News Entry Title: Education Entry Credit: Titus Mohler Judge Comment: Wow! I was not expecting an rock 'em, sock'em board meeting after reading the sweet "it's good to be you" feature. Holy smokes there is a lot going on. One suggestion is to break up these long stories into smaller stories and package them. The board actions are debate are interesting but it is a lot to digest at one sitting..
Competition Comment: This was a fascinating group to judge. These reporters get A's for sticking with the machinery of public education - where the so-called rubber is meeting the road these days. Parent voices are well represented in all of this reporting - hats off to the writers and their editors for dedicating time and space to this most important topic. The Virginia communities are well served. Congrats to all.
