CLASS! selects Southern Nevada’s leading high school journalists

Tuesday, May 11, 2004 | 8:36 a.m.

A Las Vegas High School senior, who has tried her hand at several careers as part of a partnership between the school and local businesses, took the top scholarship award at this year's CLASS! High School Journalism Awards.

Ariel Gove, this year's winner of the Sandy Thompson Memorial Scholarship, took the $10,000 award (named for the late Las Vegas Sun executive) for the enthusiasm she brought to her high school journalism program, said Maureen McDonough, assistant director of CLASS! publications, a nonprofit monthly newspaper written for and by area high school students.

Gove, who will pursue a journalism career at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, participated in the Partnership Las Vegas program, which pairs high school students with local business owners, before joining the CLASS! staff.

Meanwhile, Community College High School journalist Marlo Starr, who is credited with establishing her school's newspaper program, was named this year's Student Journalist of the Year for her dedication to the paper. Starr was nominated by her journalism adviser, Yvonne Cadwallader.

Starr, a senior, will receive a $500 college scholarship. She is planning to take a year off to volunteer for the Services for Peace organization before attending college.

Dennis Dizon of Silverado High School and Neal Morton of Community College High School this year won the $4,000 MGM MIRAGE Diversity Awards. Each has applied to several universities.

The other winners:

News writing

First Place: Angela Jupp of Green Valley; Second Place: Daniel Steffey of Sierra Vista; Third Place: Lori Valiente of Las Vegas; Honorable Mentions: Rachel Hommel of Green Valley and Rachael Pearl of Coronado.

Feature writing

First Place: Lori Faber of Green Valley; Second Place: Angela Jupp of Green Valley; Third Place: Caitlin McGarry and Monique Ford of Centennial; Honorable Mentions: April Corbin of Las Vegas and Eric Noggle of Palo Verde.

Editorial writing

First Place: Lori Valiente of Las Vegas; Second Place: Rica Barris of Cheyenne; Third Place: Brady Johnson of Las Vegas Academy; Honorable Mentions: Severo Baltasar of Faith Lutheran and Yesenia Pena of Mojave.

Column writing

First Place: Toya Young of Las Vegas; Second Place: April Corbin of Las Vegas; Third Place: Davina Coady of Centennial; Honorable Mentions: Elyse Hughes of Green Valley, Jeremy Stoker and Linda Robinson, both of Foothill.

Review writing

First Place: Matt Blunk of Sierra Vista; Second Place: Rachel Hommel of Green Valley; Third Place: Angela Jupp of Green Valley; Honorable Mentions: Lori Valiente of Las Vegas and Natalie Minev of Community College.

Sports news writing

First Place: Jimmy Tran of Green Valley; Second Place: Solana Brooks of Cheyenne; Third Place: Jon Fortenbury of Foothill; Honorable Mentions: Riley Marriage of Coronado and Rebecca Webb of Centennial.

Sports feature writing

First Place: Renee Kashka and Riley Marriage of Coronado; Second Place: Jimmy Tran of Green Valley; Third Place: Sierra Chambers of Centennial; Honorable Mentions: Danielle Klevgard, Ashley Barnes and Tara Marguinness, all of Centennial.

Sports photography

First Place: Kaila Hart of Centennial; Second Place: Lindsay Congemi of Sierra Vista; Third Place: Marco Medellin of Bishop Gorman; Honorable Mention: Renata Kloeper of Faith Lutheran.

Non-sports photography

First Place: Douglas Gonzalez of Community College; Second Place: Marlo Starr of Community College; Third Place: Drew Bennett of Foothill; Honorable Mentions: Tasha Lahera of Eldorado and Jason Emord of Sierra Vista.

Art and illustration

First Place: Kevin Ignacio of Coronado; Second Place: Kevin Bettencourt and Renata Kloeper of Faith Lutheran; Third Place: Andrew Suriano of Centennial; Honorable Mentions: Thomas Powell of Las Vegas and Bert Burchette of Bishop Gorman.

Editorial cartooning

First Place: Thomas Wills of Las Vegas; Second Place: Andrew Suriano of Centennial; Third Place: Johnny Driggs of Coronado; Honorable Mentions: Severo Baltasar of Faith Lutheran and Katorrey Smith of Eldorado.

Spanish Poetry Contest

First Place: Janette Ureno of Vo-Tech; Second Place: Patricia Gutierriz of Vo-Tech; Third Place: Gladis Barrios of A-Tech.

Issue Layout: Tabloid format

First Place: Bark! Dec. 2003, Centennial; Second Place: Birds Eye View, Sept. 2003, Foothill; Third Place: The Investigator, Feb. 2004, Green Valley; Honorable Mentions: Desert Breeze, Nov. 2003, Las Vegas and The Lance, January 2004, Bishop Gorman.

Publisher's Awards

Principal of the Year: Andre Denson, Mojave.

Advisers of the Year: Drew Lingenfelter of Mojave and Nancy Thompson of Coronado.