SPONSORED BY - Worcester Telegram & Gazette
SPONSORED BY - Worcester Telegram & Gazette SPONSORED BY - Worcester Telegram & Gazette
2 SUNDAY TELEGRAM MAY 23, 2010 News business a lifelong education Leah LAMSON One of the best things about working at a newspaper is that you actually get paid to write, but as editor it seems the writing centers more around staff memos and community presentations than actual published stories. So it is with great delight that I write something that will actually get on a printed page. It is even more delightful that the subject for this piece comes courtesy of some of the best and brightest minds in high schools across the Central Massachusetts region. Each year, the Telegram & Gazette asks students if they have a question for the editor, and each year they supply us with some provocative fodder. To those who deferred because as one student put it, “You have enough to answer already!,” I appreciate your Editor acknowledgement that being an editor is indeed a busy job. It may come as no surprise that the majority of questions from this year’s class of Student Achievers had to do with the state of journalism in an electronic age. Those questions were intertwined with ones about the future of this business as well as some about my own career path and related accomplishments. So let’s start with the latter. I had always enjoyed writing and reading in high school, and when I found myself with a serious case of homesickness as a college freshman, I knew I needed to find something else to help fill my time. Enter “Janus,” the Simmons College newspaper that was looking for students willing to go to school events and report on them. One of my first assignments was to cover a talk by Germaine Greer, a well-known feminist and author of “The Female Eunoch,” which became an international best seller in the early 1970s. It was that assignment that converted me from being a special education major to a communications major. I was enthralled with the notion that an actual career could be carved out in which I had to write and read. And, oh yes, spotting my first byline on Page 1 of the college newspaper was a little like seeing my name in lights on a movie marquee. I was smitten. But more than the ego boost, I discovered that a job in journalism afforded me a lifelong education. No day is ever the same, and I’m still learning new things all the time. What I didn’t know at the time was that some 34 years later I would be in a business that would be faced with such doubt about its long-term viability. Never in a million years did I think there would be any chance that people wouldn’t read newspapers. And I still don’t. Yes, the form of delivery has changed, and yes, newspapers aren’t as profitable as they once were. But this industry will survive. There will always be a need for a Fourth Estate, someone to watch over government, provide the checks and balances that are needed to ensure we live and thrive in a democratic society. There will always be a need for educated and trained journalists, people who are dedicated to accuracy, fairness and balance. There will always be a need for information and analysis, the stuff that helps us navigate the increasingly complex world in which we live. The trick will be to find a new structure that will support the tremendously expensive cost of running an information business. And that’s where you, the bright young minds, come in. As long as you hold to the basic tenets of journalism – those of rigorous reporting, independence, accountability and responsibility - and don’t succumb to temptation brought about by financial uncertainty, then you’ll be OK. If that sounds like a call to action, it is. As you ponder your own career paths, don’t give up on journalism. Consider it a calling, as many in this business already do. It can be an all-consuming profession in which you find yourself working nights, weekends and holidays. But it can be tremendously rewarding. If done right, it’s a form of public service, which will always have a future. Jin Soon Brancalhao Abby Kelley Foster Regional Charter School AGE: 18 HOMETOWN: Worcester PARENTS: Sidnei and Phaik Geok Brancalhao HONORS AND AWARDS: U.S. Achievement Academy National Award, Grade 10; Team Leadership Award, Grade 11; High Honor Roll, Grades 9-12; WCAC League All-Star, basketball, Grades 11-12; WCAC Academic All-Star, Grades 9-12; Academic Excellence in all subjects; Character Virtue for Truth Award; Character Virtue for Citizenship Award; Character Virtue for Self-discipline Award. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: Washington AIDS International Teens team, Youth Coordinator, Grades 10-12; Class officer, president, Grade 9, vice president, Grade 10; National Honor Society, Grades 10-12; Varsity basketball, Grades 9-12, captain, Grade 12; Church Youth Group, Grades 9-12; Orchestra and chorus, Grades 9-12, percussionist and soprano. PLANS: Accepted into American University in Washington, D.C. Plans to travel and begin school in the fall of 2011, majoring in communications. Meghan K. McInnis Algonquin Regional High School AGE: 17 HOMETOWN: Northboro PARENTS: Daniel and Bonnie McInnis HONORS AND AWARDS: National Honors Society; Girl Scout Silver Award and Bronze Award; Mt. Holyoke Book Award; 2009 Division I Soccer State Championship. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: Girl Scouts; Freshman mentor program, Grades 11-12; Soccer, Grades 11-12; Softball, Grades 9-12; Basketball, Grade 11; Indoor track, Grade 12. PLANS: International studies at Providence College, University of Connecticut or Tufts University. Major currently undecided. Nicholas M. Quarta Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School AGE: 18 HOMETOWN: Shrewsbury PARENTS: Anthony and Ann Marie Quarta HONORS AND AWARDS: Best in Shop (Carpentry), Grades 9-12; Presidents Academic Excellence Award, Grades 9-12; National Honor Society, Grades 10-12; SKILLS USA District Competition gold medal, Grades 11-12. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: SKILLS USA, Grades 9-12; Principal’s Leadership team, Grades 11-12; Assabet Aztecs baseball, Grades 9-10; Co-Operative Employment, Grades 11-12. PLANS: Pursue a Master’s degree in either mechanical or robotic engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. OTHER: Part-time jobs at Ziti’s Italian Trattoria, Southgate Retirement Home and as a carpenter at Deerpath Farms. Ashley J. Williams Auburn High School AGE: 17 HOMETOWN: Auburn PARENTS: Scott and Susan Williams HONORS AND AWARDS: National Honor Society, Grade 10; National Merit Scholar, Grade 11; Harvard Book Award, Grade 11; John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, Grade 12; Highest Honors, Grades 9-12. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: National Honor Society, Grades 10-12, vice president, Grade 12; Student Council, Grades 9-11, secretary, Grade 11; Company Dance Team, Grades 11-12; Link Crew, freshmen mentoring program, Grade 12; C.A.R.E., fifth grade mentoring program, Grades 11-12; Track and Field, Grades 10-12. PLANS: Major in pre-medicine at Hamilton College; plan to later pursue a degree in psychology. OTHER: Part-time jobs at the Greendale YMCA, Child Watch (Gym Daycare) and was a dance teacher.
3 By Jacqueline Reis TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF Achievers offer their viewpoints High school is behind them, but most of this year’s Student Achievement Award winners are already thinking two steps ahead. Eighty-two percent of them plan to go to a four-year college and then on to graduate school. Even more of them (85 percent) believe their high school adequately prepared them for college or work, but perhaps the most honest were the 9 percent who said they weren’t sure. They’ll find out in a few months, as the students continue the paths they hope will lead to their chosen career, which range from opera singer to biomedical engineer. Telegram & Gazette Student Achievement Award winners are in the top 10 percent of their class and were chosen by teachers and faculty at schools in Central Massachusetts and Northeast Connecticut. Seventy-four of the students responded to the newspaper’s questionnaire about their influences, opinions and goals. A note to those who believe more women need to go into engineering: ‘ My ‘best’ teacher was the best because he knew he hadn’t ‚ taught until I had learned. A STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER Efforts aren’t working yet. While nine young men said they hope to become engineers of one stripe or another, none of the young women mentioned it explicitly. Four young women, on the other hand, said they wanted to do environmental work in some capacity, while none of the young men did. Fifty-seven percent said religion is important in their life, and seven of the young men said the Bible was the most important book they had read. None of the young women did. Other books cited by more than one person included “The Little Prince,” “1984,” “Brave New World,” “Night,” “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” “The Stranger,” “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” “A Prayer for Owen Meany,” “Tuesdays with Morrie,” and “The Catcher in the Rye,” but the most interesting was perhaps “The Complete Book of Cat Care,” which the student said probably sparked her interest in medicine. Authors were among the people students listed as the person they most admire, although family members were the most popular. One young woman wrote that while everyone important in her life had let her down, she hopes to be the person her brothers admire. Other people the students admire range from 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai to neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin S. Carson. Asked about teenage life, 89 percent of the students said drug use is a problem in schools, and only 39 percent said anti-smoking and anti-drug programs are working. Asked whether explicit or violent lyrics influence teen behavior, the answers varied. While some felt such lyrics desensitize listeners, one young man wrote, “Young people connect with these lyrics because they have already experienced violence.” Two others wrote that such music might be a way to “vent.” When it comes to politics, 88 percent of the students support term limits, and most believe society does not pay enough attention to the opinions and concerns of young people. One said she feels that society “tries to neglect or hide such issues” as bullying. One young man noted that “you never see 16- or 17-year-olds on TV being interviewed.” The students were asked what made their best teachers the best, and the answers included praise for the teacher’s “ability to reach me and interest me in something I was otherwise indifferent to,” recollections of “barrages of horrible puns” and gratitude for a teacher who let students “take education into their own hands.” One young man wrote, “My ‘best’ teacher was the best because he knew he hadn’t taught until I had learned.” SUNDAY TELEGRAM MAY 23, 2010 Joseph D. Kapusansky Ayer High School AGE: 18 HOMETOWN: Ayer PARENTS: Lolita and Albert Kapusansky HONORS AND AWARD: Magna Cum Laude; National Honor Society; John and Abigail Adams Scholarship; St. Michael’s Book Award Scholarship; Latin Award. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: National Honor Society, Grades 10-11; Community service organizer, Grade 12; Marching band, Grade 12; Cross-country, Grades 10-12; Track, Grades 9-11. PLANS: Major in nutrition at University of Massachusetts at Lowell. OTHER: Part-time job at McDonald’s. Alexander Buslov Bancroft School AGE: 18 HOMETOWN: Worcester PARENTS: Maya and Michael Buslov HONORS AND AWARDS: George I. Alden Scholarship, Grades 11-12; Cum Laude Society; Bausch and Lomb Award; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Medal; Spanish Honor Society; National Merit Commended Student; High Honors, every semester, Grades 9-12. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: Children’s Arts and Recreational Experience, a community service organization for children with special needs, Grades 10-11, program head, Grade 12; Varsity math team, Grades 9-12; Worcester Partnership, Grade 11; Varsity tennis, Grade 12; concert band, drummer, Grades 9-10; Gifted High School Program at the College of the Holy Cross; tutoring middle school band students, Grade 11. PLANS: Major in economics and applied mathematics at Brown University. OTHER: Part-time job at Worcester Jewish Community center. Rebecca L. Thrush Bartlett Junior Senior High School AGE: 18 HOMETOWN: Webster PARENTS: Carol Morrissey and Richard Thrush HONORS AND AWARDS: Superintendent’s Award; Smith’s Reading Award. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: Jazz band, saxophone, Grades 9-12; Show Choir, soprano, Grades 9-12; Cross country, Grades 9-12; co-captain, Grade 12; Marching band, Grade 9-11; Drum major, Grade 12; Concert band, clarinet, Grades 9-12; Math team, Grades 9-12; captain, Grade 12; National Honor Society, Grades 11-12, vice president, Grade 12; Student Council, Grade 12; Select choir, soprano, Grade 12. PLANS: Major in applied mathematics at the University of Connecticut. OTHER: Hopes to pursue a career in cryptology. Iliana Joaquin Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School AGE: 18 HOMETOWN: Dudley PARENTS: Debra and Thomas Smith HONORS AND AWARDS: John and Abigail Adams Scholarship recipient; honors every semester. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: Basketball, Grades 9-12, co-captain, Grades 11-12; Students Against Destructive Decisions, Grades 10-12; Cross-country, Grade 10. PLANS: Business major at University of Massachusetts at Boston OTHER: Part-time job at Fashion Bug and a licensed cosmetologist.
- Page 1: SPONSORED BY SECTION 0 • MAY 23,
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2<br />
SUNDAY TELEGRAM MAY 23, 2010<br />
News business a lifelong education<br />
Leah<br />
LAMSON<br />
One of the best things about working at a newspaper<br />
is that you actually get paid to write, but as<br />
editor it seems the writing centers more around<br />
staff memos and community presentations than actual<br />
published stories. So it is with great delight that I write<br />
something that will actually get on a<br />
printed page.<br />
It is even more delightful that the<br />
subject for this piece comes courtesy<br />
of some of the best and brightest<br />
minds in high schools across the Central<br />
Massachusetts region.<br />
Each year, the <strong>Telegram</strong> & <strong>Gazette</strong><br />
asks students if they have a question<br />
for the editor, and each year they<br />
supply us with some provocative fodder.<br />
To those who deferred because as<br />
one student put it, “You have enough<br />
to answer already!,” I appreciate your<br />
Editor<br />
acknowledgement that being an editor<br />
is indeed a busy job.<br />
It may come as no surprise that the majority of<br />
questions from this year’s class of Student Achievers<br />
had to do with the state of journalism in an electronic<br />
age. Those questions were intertwined with ones about<br />
the future of this business as well as some about my<br />
own career path and related accomplishments.<br />
So let’s start with the latter. I had always enjoyed<br />
writing and reading in high school, and when I found<br />
myself with a serious case of homesickness as a<br />
college freshman, I knew I needed to find something<br />
else to help fill my time. Enter “Janus,” the Simmons<br />
College newspaper that was looking for students<br />
willing to go to school events and report on them. One<br />
of my first assignments was to cover a talk by<br />
Germaine Greer, a well-known feminist and author of<br />
“The Female Eunoch,” which became an international<br />
best seller in the early 1970s.<br />
It was that assignment that converted me from being<br />
a special education major to a communications major.<br />
I was enthralled with the notion that an actual career<br />
could be carved out in which I had to write and read.<br />
And, oh yes, spotting my first byline on Page 1 of the<br />
college newspaper was a little like seeing my name in<br />
lights on a movie marquee. I was smitten. But more<br />
than the ego boost, I discovered that a job in journalism<br />
afforded me a lifelong education. No day is ever<br />
the same, and I’m still learning new things all the<br />
time.<br />
What I didn’t know at the time was that some 34<br />
years later I would be in a business that would be faced<br />
with such doubt about its long-term viability. Never in<br />
a million years did I think there would be any chance<br />
that people wouldn’t read newspapers. And I still<br />
don’t.<br />
Yes, the form of delivery has changed, and yes,<br />
newspapers aren’t as profitable as they once were.<br />
But this industry will survive. There will always be a<br />
need for a Fourth Estate, someone to watch over<br />
government, provide the checks and balances that<br />
are needed to ensure we live and thrive in a<br />
democratic society. There will always be a need for<br />
educated and trained journalists, people who are<br />
dedicated to accuracy, fairness and balance. There<br />
will always be a need for information and analysis,<br />
the stuff that helps us navigate the increasingly<br />
complex world in which we live.<br />
The trick will be to find a new structure that will<br />
support the tremendously expensive cost of running<br />
an information business. And that’s where you, the<br />
bright young minds, come in. As long as you hold to<br />
the basic tenets of journalism – those of rigorous<br />
reporting, independence, accountability and responsibility<br />
- and don’t succumb to temptation brought<br />
about by financial uncertainty, then you’ll be OK.<br />
If that sounds like a call to action, it is. As you<br />
ponder your own career paths, don’t give up on<br />
journalism. Consider it a calling, as many in this<br />
business already do. It can be an all-consuming<br />
profession in which you find yourself working<br />
nights, weekends and holidays. But it can be tremendously<br />
rewarding. If done right, it’s a form of public<br />
service, which will always have a future.<br />
Jin Soon Brancalhao<br />
Abby Kelley Foster Regional Charter<br />
School<br />
AGE: 18<br />
HOMETOWN: <strong>Worcester</strong><br />
PARENTS: Sidnei and Phaik<br />
Geok Brancalhao<br />
HONORS AND AWARDS: U.S.<br />
Achievement Academy<br />
National Award, Grade<br />
10; Team Leadership<br />
Award, Grade 11; High<br />
Honor Roll, Grades 9-12; WCAC League<br />
All-Star, basketball, Grades 11-12; WCAC<br />
Academic All-Star, Grades 9-12; Academic<br />
Excellence in all subjects; Character Virtue<br />
for Truth Award; Character Virtue for<br />
Citizenship Award; Character Virtue for<br />
Self-discipline Award.<br />
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: Washington AIDS<br />
International Teens team, Youth<br />
Coordinator, Grades 10-12; Class officer,<br />
president, Grade 9, vice president, Grade<br />
10; National Honor Society, Grades 10-12;<br />
Varsity basketball, Grades 9-12, captain,<br />
Grade 12; Church Youth Group, Grades<br />
9-12; Orchestra and chorus, Grades 9-12,<br />
percussionist and soprano.<br />
PLANS: Accepted into American University in<br />
Washington, D.C. Plans to travel and begin<br />
school in the fall of 2011, majoring in<br />
communications.<br />
Meghan K. McInnis<br />
Algonquin Regional High School<br />
AGE: 17<br />
HOMETOWN: Northboro<br />
PARENTS: Daniel and<br />
Bonnie McInnis<br />
HONORS AND AWARDS:<br />
National Honors Society;<br />
Girl Scout Silver Award<br />
and Bronze Award; Mt.<br />
Holyoke Book Award;<br />
2009 Division I Soccer State<br />
Championship.<br />
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: Girl Scouts; Freshman<br />
mentor program, Grades 11-12; Soccer,<br />
Grades 11-12; Softball, Grades 9-12;<br />
Basketball, Grade 11; Indoor track, Grade<br />
12.<br />
PLANS: International studies at Providence<br />
College, University of Connecticut or Tufts<br />
University. Major currently undecided.<br />
Nicholas M. Quarta<br />
Assabet Valley Regional Technical High<br />
School<br />
AGE: 18<br />
HOMETOWN: Shrewsbury<br />
PARENTS: Anthony and Ann<br />
Marie Quarta<br />
HONORS AND AWARDS: Best in<br />
Shop (Carpentry), Grades<br />
9-12; Presidents<br />
Academic Excellence<br />
Award, Grades 9-12;<br />
National Honor Society, Grades 10-12;<br />
SKILLS USA District Competition gold<br />
medal, Grades 11-12.<br />
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: SKILLS USA, Grades 9-12;<br />
Principal’s Leadership team, Grades 11-12;<br />
Assabet Aztecs baseball, Grades 9-10;<br />
Co-Operative Employment, Grades 11-12.<br />
PLANS: Pursue a Master’s degree in either<br />
mechanical or robotic engineering at<br />
<strong>Worcester</strong> Polytechnic Institute.<br />
OTHER: Part-time jobs at Ziti’s Italian Trattoria,<br />
Southgate Retirement Home and as a<br />
carpenter at Deerpath Farms.<br />
Ashley J. Williams<br />
Auburn High School<br />
AGE: 17<br />
HOMETOWN: Auburn<br />
PARENTS: Scott and Susan<br />
Williams<br />
HONORS AND AWARDS:<br />
National Honor Society,<br />
Grade 10; National Merit<br />
Scholar, Grade 11;<br />
Harvard Book Award,<br />
Grade 11; John and Abigail Adams<br />
Scholarship, Grade 12; Highest Honors,<br />
Grades 9-12.<br />
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: National Honor Society,<br />
Grades 10-12, vice president, Grade 12;<br />
Student Council, Grades 9-11, secretary,<br />
Grade 11; Company Dance Team, Grades<br />
11-12; Link Crew, freshmen mentoring<br />
program, Grade 12; C.A.R.E., fifth grade<br />
mentoring program, Grades 11-12; Track<br />
and Field, Grades 10-12.<br />
PLANS: Major in pre-medicine at Hamilton<br />
College; plan to later pursue a degree in<br />
psychology.<br />
OTHER: Part-time jobs at the Greendale<br />
YMCA, Child Watch (Gym Daycare) and<br />
was a dance teacher.
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