Ava Knapp, editor-in-chief of The Paly Voice at Palo Alto High School, was named the California Journalist of the Year today in an announcement by JEA California State Director Mitch Ziegler. Knapp will now progress to the National JOY competition as the official California entry.

As the first-place winner in Northern California, Knapp is a recipient of the Arnetta Garcin Scholarship, which includes a $1000 prize. The second-place Garcin Scholarship winner is Chunming Zhang from Monta Vista High School in Cupertino ($600), and the third-place winner is Madison Bishop from Redwood High School in Larkspur ($400).

Journalism portfolios from seniors entering the annual competition were due on Feb. 16. The out-of-state judges who ranked the portfolios were Chris Waugaman, MJE, 2014 National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year; Lori Oglesbee, 2009 H. L. Hall National Yearbook Adviser of the Year and Monica Hill, Director, North Carolina Scholastic Media Association.

It’s not too early for freshmen, sophomores and juniors to start thinking about the stories they want to tell for inclusion in their future JOY portfolios. Here’s what this year’s judges have to say about the work of this year’s NorCal winners:

On Ava Knapp:
“Knapp’s portfolio reflects innate journalistic instincts. It also reflects her connection to the public she serves. The strength of this portfolio is evident in how she introduces herself in the opening personal narrative. The voice is strong and connected to the pursuit of journalism. The portfolio is very nicely organized in WordPress with easy navigation at the top and throughout the pages. I am most impressed with the detail she goes into with her role as a leader and the work done with the diversity audit.”

On Chunming Zhang:
“What an impressive portfolio put together using the WIX website platform. The design ability in this candidate is not only present in his published work but also in how the JOY website is artistically built. Benjamin’s work samples are ones that should be shared with students in the future. This site is a great resource for educating students how to ethically deal with editing photos too. Zhang’s eye for visual storytelling strengthens this already sound portfolio.”

On Madison Bishop:
“Bishop’s essay is a model of storytelling structure, illuminating her connection to scholastic journalism. The initial story recreating how this individual first identified a connection with storytelling is both unique and also inspiring. The lemonade metaphor works well to package this student’s Journalist of the Year application, and also showcases how a topic can reach audiences now through social media. One of the strongest work samples is the investigative piece on the history of The Buzz newspaper. Researching a 1st Amendment story is something all students should consider pursuing during their years in a journalism class.”

This story was corrected at 3:52 p.m. PST to reflect that although Mitch Ziegler made the JOY announcement, it was not over Zoom.