WASHINGTON, D.C. — Five former and current Dade County, Fla., high school student journalists who helped stave off an attempt by district officials to crack down on student press rights were named this year’s recipients of the Newseum’s Courage in Student Journalism Awards.
The students — Brady Ward and Mario Weber of Coral Gables Senior High School, and Isabel Eisner, Joey Ruiz and Katie Townsend of Miami Palmetto Senior High School — organized a rally of 200 students, teachers and community members to protest the board’s plans, arranged for local and national media coverage of their fight, wrote editorials and articles that were published by other media and even persuaded a civil rights group to donate a highway billboard that alerted Miami drivers of the school board’s plans.
The board soon backed away from their proposal, which never came up for a vote.
In addition to winning a trip to Washington, D.C., where they received their award in a ceremony at the Freedom Forum, each of the students also received a check for $1,000 and a plaque commemorating their award.