Better Newspaper Contest

Page 42 Division 4 Best In-depth Feature or Feature Package/Category 10 First Ben Middelkamp & Kevin Burkett Pharos-Tribune (Logansport) Breaking the Barrier This was a difficult category, because there was a wide range in how the entries presented. This package on school diversity wins because it is truly a deep look into a single topic -- diversity and trends in multicultural changes in public schools (and the community at large). There is a lot of information in a variety of forms. This could have been written in much richer detail. Over- all a terrific effort on an important issue. Second Kirk Johannesen The Republic (Columbus) Abused children A good idea and some hard data to support the reporting. I would like to have seen more inside the relationship between the CASA volunteer and his or her ward, to see how it works and what they do. Get the real person into the piece. Third Staff The News and Tribune (Jeffersonville) 9/11 Anniversary There were a lot of commemorative pieces among these entries. This is by far the best one because it had the greatest scope and variety. It was a nice idea for a package of perspectives on a key anniversary of 9/11. The stories are thorough and well-told. Best Sports Event Coverage/Category 11 First Brendan Perkins The Herald (Jasper) Out with a bang, Cats are Indy-bound Brendan Perkins does a great job of identifying and delivering a strong lede that sets the tone for an exciting gamer. Second Dan Vance Fort Wayne News-Sentinel Zach Welkin Third Brendan Perkins The Herald (Jasper) Cats' opening escape has all the feels Best Sports News or Feature Coverage/ Category 12 First Joseph Fanelli The Herald (Jasper) Goals: Southridge High School Soccer So many communities in this country, including mine, have a similar story to tell, but how many of them actually tell it? Excel- lent writing with vibrant descriptions makes this story a stand- out. It's obvious a lot of hard work went into this story. Kudos! Second Ryan O'Leary Daily Journal (Franklin) Home Again Excellent story of a young swimmer's courage and determina- tion. The writer does a great job telling this young man's story with attention to detail. Third Jesus Jimenez Palladium-Item (Richmond) #McNewStrong This writer has excellent storytelling skills. I enjoyed the story. I'm sure I'm not the only one who read it and now wants a fol- lowup on this young man's progress!. Ben Middelkamp & Kevin Burkett Pharos-Tribune (Logansport) Three of seven Logansport Community School Corp. buildings have a minority of white students and a combined majority of Hispanic, Asian, African American and multiracial kids — something that's never happened before in Logansport, according to state data. For more than a decade, families from Latin America have moved into Logansport and its schools, replacing the large number of white students that left during that time. Logansport had 3,126 white and 945 Hispanic students during the 2006-2007 school year. A decade later, that number has decreased by about 28 percent for white kids, to 2,242, and steadily increased by 79 percent among Hispanics, to 1,695 kids, this school year. That enrollment data is compiled by the Indiana Department of Education on its Compass website and based on student count days. Emily Graham, LCSC English language director, said the student population number, however, often changes during a school year. She said faculty and staff are used to new students arriving from Latin America, whether that's once a week or once a month, and plugging them into classes that meet their needs. "It's part of what we do as a school now," she said. "It's embedded in what we do." IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE STUDENTS When Graham started teaching in 1997, she said there weren't many Spanish-speaking kids in the corporation. She only had a few in her class. After several years, more and more Hispanic families came to town — eventually, 900 Hispanic kids attended Logansport schools in 2005. Much of that occurred in the years following a wave of factor y closing s in Logansport, such as Exide and Trelleborg. Cass County's population has also been decreasing for the past few decades and is at its lowest in 70 years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Graham said Logansport schools might have been a third or so smaller than they once were if Hispanic families didn't fill in the gaps of white families in town leaving and getting older. The state distributes money to schools based on enrollment. LCSC's population has dropped by just 1.3 percent over the past 10 years. That rate, however, could have been much worse, data indicate. "I don't know if people realize that," Graham said. "It's because of these families moving in that we've been able to sustain the staff and the buildings and the size of the town." Breaking the Barrier For the complete story, visit hspa.com. Brendan Perkins The Herald (Jasper) JASPER — It's been somewhat of a running joke for the last two years that Jasper catcher Adam Hedinger needs to take it down a couple notches. When the Wildcat baseball team wins a round of the postseason, Hedinger will come charging toward his pitcher, building a head of steam like an uncaged bull, and tackle him linebacker style. It's supposed to be a celebration. Instead it's ended as a bruising scenario for pitchers, to the point that "Connor (O'Brien) got mad at me," Hedinger said with a laugh, when he performed the takedown at the sectional. Funny how everything comes full circle. Saturday, Hedinger was the one bulldozed and planted on his back when the wild, classic final out went down in the Class 3A semistate. After holding his ground and hanging onto the ball when Northview's Brigham Booe came trucking into home plate with a potential game-tying run, a jarred Hedinger laid on his back in the Ruxer Field dirt and hoisted the ball into the air to show the proof: the Wildcats finally owned that elusive third out against Class 3A's defending state champs, who, quite literally, pushed Jasper all the way to the end. "Now I know how it feels," a grinning Hedinger said. "That's probably the best-feeling hit I've ever had in my life, even after playing football and playing baseball." It required 10 innings after a Northview rally with two outs in the seventh, but an electrifying 3-2 triumph over the fourth-ranked Knights showcased how things have come full circle for the Wildcats as a whole, too. A year after Jasper felt its postseason push crashed prematurely in the regional final, the second-ranked Cats (30- 4) are striding to the state finals for a 16th time and one win away from their sixth state championship. They'll tangle with No. 9 South Bend St. Joseph (24-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday in Indianapolis as Victory Field is the last stop of this season's winding path, which began with the Cats replacing more than half their starting lineup from last season and facing questions galore. They've continued to craft plenty of answers, including an unforgettable final out of the semistate. "Man, that was crazy. That was a hell of a way to end the ballgame," said Jasper starter Reece Kleinhelter. "In my probably 11 years of playing legitimate baseball, no, I never have (seen a finish like that)," added Wildcat junior Eric Nordhoff, who popped the go- ahead sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th. "You couldn't ask for a better finish, especially going in our favor." Out with a bang, Cats are Indy-bound Goals: Southridge High School Soccer For the complete story, visit hspa.com. Joseph Fanelli The Herald (Jasper) Huntingburg is still dark and sleepy when cousins Jeovanny Dubon and Jonatan Navarro emerge, pedaling bicycles from behind a row of houses. Fifteen minutes before sunrise and the two Southridge High School students are up and moving, exiting an alley and starting west on 12th Street. It's the end of June, but Jeovanny is dressed warm in the chilly morning air, wearing jeans and a gray hoodie. Jonatan dons shorts and a striped soccer jersey with the name Neymar Jr. emblazoned in gold across the back. They bike about 3 miles, climbing rolling hills until they arrive at the house of Rhonda Schum. They park their bikes, retrieve two empty plastic ice cream buckets from the garage and head to a patch of blueberries at the rear of the property. They pick until about noon, peeling away the ripe berries and filling their buckets to the brim. The Schums offer $11 per gallon of berries, and on a good day, the cousins stay late into the afternoon, sometimes working seven, eight hours. On those days, they'll pass the time by listening to motivational movie speeches on their phone. Jeovanny has found an entire channel on Youtube that lasts more than an hour. But the berry fields have run dry over the summer, and on this day, the two call it a day after only a couple buckets. "I want (to go) to practice, but at the same time, I need the money," Jeovanny explained. This same day, the Southridge soccer team, in its first summer as a school-sponsored varsity sport, is holding a workout on Raider Field, the artificial surface where the school's football teams play. There's been a handful of regular attendees throughout the summer, but many are missing, either unaware or unmotivated. Or they're like Jeovanny and Jonatan — hailing from working-class families that don't shovel out cash for new cleats and soccer fees. So Jeovanny and Jonatan drill later on their own, trading practice for a chance to make some money picking berries beneath the summer sun. It's not uncommon. It's just another hurdle for a program that's been biding its time for almost a decade. Jeovanny and Jonatan are members of the inaugural soccer team at Southridge — a group of 26 students that's almost completely Hispanic, most of whom have been waiting for a chance to represent Southridge in soccer since middle school. The Raiders' moment has finally arrived, but all they can hope for is a little punctuality. For the complete story, visit hspa.com.

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