Journalism students advance to state
By Nathan Straus News Reporter

Kallie Murphy, Eric Orange and Haley Smith

It is a historic year for the Brownsboro High School journalism department as not one but three students prepare for the state UIL competition in May. The students placed at the April 12 regional meet.

Patsy Lewis UIL coordinator and journalism coach, said the students going to state made a phenomenal effort in preparation for the regional competition.

"They have worked really hard getting up at 5 am going to practice meets for three years. That work has paid off," Lewis said.

The three students are Eric Orange, senior yearbook editor, Haley Smith, junior school newspaper editor and Kallie Murphy, senior assistant editor. Orange placed 1st in editorial writing and 3rd in feature and headline writing. Smith placed 2nd in feature writing. Murphy placed 4th in headline writing and will be an alternate in case one of the other students is unable to compete.

The journalism team placed first in regional competition.

Lewis said in her past experiences in Brownsboro Independent School District she has seen five individuals go to state in separate years.

"In 35 years of teaching journalism, this is the first time I've had three students go to state in the same year," Lewis said. "This is a high point for my career."

Lewis added any time a student goes to state it is a big deal for the student's school, but three at once is nothing short of historic.

Of the five who went to state in the past, one came very close to winning the entire competition. A student placed second, and this result was a tossup.

In addition to seeing three students off to state for the first time, Lewis said this is also the first time a student will go to state in multiple events.

Orange said the competition at the state level will be fierce, but there will be plenty of time to practice before the big day.

"I'm really excited to go to state," Orange said. "One of my main goals was to go to state and be eligible for the Texas Interscholastic League Foundation scholarship."

These scholarships, worth around $1,000, may be offered to any student participating in the state competition.

For his winning editorial article, Orange wrote about a mother protesting against anti-war shirts in school. Unlike many who wrote in favor of the mother, Orange wrote in favor of the students wearing the shirts.

Smith, who placed second in feature writing, said her story was about a track team that planned on giving its win- nings to a leukemia organization.

"A boy who was running broke his tibia and crawled to the finish line," Smith said.

Feature and editorial writing stories are given by way of prompts and quotes given to the students before writing the stories. The students have a little over 30 minutes to make nearly a two-page story.

The headline writing contest is where students get several miniature stories and make headlines for them.

Murphy said she thinks the team is going to do well at the state competition at the University of Texas in Austin on May 2.

"We have a lot of talented writers this year," Murphy said.