The Student Voice Awards

Each year JLI celebrates excellent student journalism with the Student Voice Awards. Stories published in The Student Voice, Black Student Magazine, or produced through our Effective Communicators partner school sites are considered. As our programs have expanded across the nation, this year’s celebration won’t be an in-person event, but available to view on demand.

Award Categories

Student Categories

Social Impact Award acknowledges student work that has illuminated an important or overlooked issue in the community.

Commentary Award recognizes student work that employed research and critical thinking to effectively examine a topic or issue of relevance to the community

Multimedia Award recognizes outstanding visual or audio storytelling (photo, video, audio, interactive, or immersive). Outstanding visual stories are those that demonstrate technical, stylistic, and journalistic excellence.

Educator Categories

Emerging Leader recognizes an educator new to JLI who models exceptional teaching of Journalistic Learning practices.

Outstanding Mentor recognizes a mentor whose efforts have helped students find their voices and express themselves effectively (2 recipients).

Distinguished Educator recognizes educators who have made a significant impact to the field of teaching and have furthered the principles and methods of Journalistic Learning. To be considered for this award, a teacher must have worked with an embedded JLI Educator in a classroom, been a JLI Educator Fellow, or completed a JLI professional development course or workshop.

Eligibility

Work must have been published to The Student Voice, Black Student Magazine, or produced through one of our Effective Communicators partner school sites between April 2, 2023 and April 1, 2024.

Students must be enrolled in a public, private, or charter middle school or high school in the United States or U.S. territories.

Work published during this year’s eligibility period (April 2, 2023 through April 1, 2024) will not be considered for future Student Voice award competitions.

Each winner will only receive one Student Voice award per competition period.

Each story is only eligible for one award category. Stories will not be considered for an award in more than one category.

Judging Criteria

The Student Voice Awards recognizes students whose work stands out as exceptional. Work published in The Student Voice and Black Student Magazine are reviewed and edited by a panel of college journalists to ensure it meets our quality standards, making all Student Voice content eligible for an award.

Work produced through our Effective Communicators partner school sites are also reviewed for quality; stories that meet our quality standards are eligible for The Student Voice Awards and may also be republished to The Student Voice digital news site.

A panel of judges will select category winners in early April. Winners will have their award presented to them over Zoom by one or more of the judges. Awards will be sent to recipients by mail.

Awards & Acknowledgement

The winner of each category will receive an engraved Student Voice Award acknowledging their achievement. Awards will be delivered to winners by mail. If you receive a Student Voice Award, one of our staff will contact you to obtain your mailing address.

In addition to the engraved award, each winner will receive a $100 Amazon eGift card. Gift cards will be sent to recipients by email.

Winners will also be acknowledged in writing on The Student Voice website and announced during The Student Voice Awards virtual showcase near the end of April 2024.

Student Voice Awards 2023

Student Voice Awards 2022

Thank You to Our 2024 Student Voice Awards Sponsors and Partners

We encourage you to support the businesses that have been generous in their support of youth learning programs.

FAQ

What is The Student Voice?

The Student Voice is a professional development program for high schoolers focused on providing practical, accessible journalism advising led by undergraduate students of journalism from the University of Oregon. With students’ consent, we publish selected content in The Student Voice digest (digital and print) and work to have it republished by mainstream media organizations. Each year, we acknowledge excellent student work in our Student Voice Awards.

How can my student(s) engage with The Student Voice?

There are many ways students can participate in The Student Voice.

Submit work to The Student Voice?
Middle and high school students or their journalism advisors can submit work for publication to The Student Voice.
Submit work for publication to The Student Voice.
Work published to The Student Voice will be automatically considered for The Student Voice Awards if it meets the eligibility criteria.

Join our weekly newsroom sessions.
Session dates will be announced soon. The sessions are led by University of Oregon journalism students.
Watch recordings of previous sessions.

Contact us.
If you have questions or want to get involved another way, please email us at info@journalisticlearning.org. We’d love to hear from you.

Find and engage with The Student Voice online.
Join our growing community of youth journalists and storytellers.
Website
Facebook

Does my student need to have journalism training / a journalism adviser to submit work to The Student Voice?

Nope! Students do not need to have any journalism training or education to submit their work to The Student Voice, nor do they need a journalism advisor. Our team of undergraduate journalists are available to mentor students in journalism and nonfiction storytelling during our twice monthly newsroom sessions.

Does my student need to attend The Student Voice weekly newsroom sessions to have their work considered for The Student Voice Awards?

No. Students do not need to have attended any Student Voice sessions to have their work considered for The Student Voice Awards. Their work just needs to have been published to The Student Voice magazine during the eligibility period. Your student is also eligible to receive an award if their work was published via our Black Student Magazine program or produced through one of our Effective Communicator partner school sites.

If my student had their work published in Black Student Magazine, can they still submit their work to The Student Voice digital publication?

Yes! Their work can be submitted for re-publication in The Student Voice through our online submission form.

I am an Effective Communicators Educator Fellow. My students produced stories individually or in teams for my Effective Communicators class. How do I ensure their work is considered for The Student Voice Awards?

If one of more of your students produced work for your class that you would like considered for The Student Voice Awards, you may submit your students’ work through our online submission form. Students may also submit work on their own behalf.

If you would like to submit multiple stories, then please follow these directions:

1. If your students produced written stories: Save each story as a pdf or Word document. Ensure that each document includes the title of the story, name(s) of the author(s), and the date the story was produced.
2. If your students produced microsites, multimedia work, photos, videos, or podcasts: Please upload the works to a third-party hosting site. Any work shared as links should include the title of the story, name(s) of the author(s), and the date the story was produced.
3. Send your stories as attachments or as links to info@journalisticlearning.org.

Can student work created in my Effective Communicators class be published to The Student Voice digital publication?

Yes! Just as you would submit your students’ work for consideration in our Student Voice Awards, you can submit their work for publication in The Student Voice. You may submit your students’ work through our online submission form. Students may also submit work on their own behalf.
If you would like to submit multiple stories, then please follow these directions:

1. If your students produced written stories: Save each student-produced story as a pdf or Word document. Ensure that each document includes the title of the story, name(s) of the author(s), and the date the story was produced.
2. If your students produced microsites, multimedia work, photos, videos, or podcasts: Please upload the works to a third-party hosting site. Any work shared as links should include the title of the story, name(s) of the author(s), and the date the story was produced.
3. Send your stories as attachments or as links to info@journalisticlearning.org.