Laurel Jorgensen

Tracy Schmidt

Crystal Le Yu

NINA honors three
high school seniors

High school journalists from Arlington Heights, Park Ridge and Naperville have won NINA scholarships as they finish their senior years.

"We received several high-quality entrees this year and our judges found it
very difficult to select the three winners," said the Ledger-Sentinel's John Etheredge, coordinator of the annual competition.

First place: Laurel Jorgensen of Arlington Heights, Prospect High School. $300 scholarship.

Jorgensen has been a four-year staff member at her school¹s newspaper, The Prospector. This year, she was editor. While working as an intern at the Daily Herald, she had two articles published on the cover of the newspaper¹s feature section. In addition, she assisted Daily Herald staffers in redesigning the paper.

Jorgensen's success as a student journalist has prompted her to plan for a career in newspapers. "There is no limit to how a journalist can affect society," she wrote in her scholarship application, "and I will do the best I can to leave a positive mark on the world."

Second place: Tracy Schmidt, Maine Township High School South, Park Ridge. $200 scholarship.

Schmidt has served on the staff of her student newspaper, the Southwords,
and as an intern at the Chicago Tribune, assisting columnist John
Kass. She also writes a column for Pioneer Press newspapers. Over the past two years she has written and had published 38 "Teen Talk" bi-weekly columns.

Summing up her career as a student journalist in her scholarship
application, Schmidt wrote: "After all, in the world or journalism,
excellent writing, responsible reporting, and professional networking mean
everything, don¹t they?"

Third place: Crystal Le Yu, Naperville Central High School, Naperville. $100 scholarship.

Yu has worked for her award-winning student newspaper, the Central
Times, the past four years. As a senior she has served as head news editor.
Yu wrote in her application that working as a student journalist has
proven an eye-opening experience. "What began as a simple curiosity freshman year has turned into a driving force in my life. Every issue of the Central Times is filled with hours of hard work and struggle, but to see all the pieces fall into place on deadline makes all the work worth it. I see a
final product that has a profound effect on the school and I can¹t help but
smile."

Yu is the third Naperville Central student to receive a NINA scholarship since the program started five years ago.

NINA received 28 applications this year, bringing the total number of applications received over the past five years to 178. In the five years the scholarship has been offered, NINA has awarded $4,900 in scholarships to 13 graduating high school seniors.

The scholarship program strives to recognize outstanding achievement by high school students in print journalism. The program is intended to
encourage promising high school journalists to continue their study of the
profession at the college level.

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