Related Finalists
2024 Features (Education-Only Outlets) Finalists
See finalists listed in alphabetical order.
Kate Hidalgo Bellows
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Traumatized Campus
Comments From the Judges:
“I never thought I would be so interested in campus buildings! Kate did a masterful job of weaving together a very intimate personal narrative with the philosophical question of how campuses should treat buildings that have been tainted by violence, an ugly post-shooting question that gets easily overlooked when coverage of the immediate threat is gone. Stellar job.”
“The crisp writing and careful structure make a complicated and nuanced story into a compelling, digestible read. The article makes important points about trauma being experienced in different ways resulting in people who are connected with a college that has a shooting having different and sometimes conflicting needs.”
Kavitha Cardoza, Caroline Preston & Valeria Fernandez
The Hechinger Report, palabra. & AL.com
A Superintendent Made Big Gains With English Learners. His Success May Have Been His Downfall
Comments From the Judges:
“An infuriating story that took a lot of time and care to report. I appreciated that the narrative was straightforward and easy to understand, and that the reporter didn’t pull their punches when identifying that the superintendent lost his job largely because of anti-immigrant sentiment, or as the reporter put it: ‘small-town politics, deep-rooted antipathy toward immigrants and a yearning for the city Russellville used to be.’”
“This story was deeply reported and I appreciated the in-depth explanations of which strategies were helping English learners and why. Great storytelling. So compelling! The ending had me seething because I was so invested in this superintendent’s mission and awed by his success.”
Mila Koumpilova
Chalkbeat Chicago
‘The Kids Everyone Forgot’
Comments From the Judges:
“Mila did incredible work on this story. It is plain to see how much work and time she put into it. It’s an important story because it’s easy to move on and push the pandemic into the past, but COVID has had long-lasting consequences – even if you never actually got the virus. The meticulous details of what Lucian experienced and how he and others tried to help him get on a sustainable track broke my heart. Very well done.”
“The story’s powerfully written details and scenes do an excellent job of introducing the reader to Lucian, and to the challenges he and many other disconnected young people from the ‘COVID generation’ face: trauma, social anxiety, depression and lost learning opportunities that can create a feedback loop, especially when they don’t have financial and familial safety nets.”
