Belleville West and O'Fallon High School student journalists scored big at the Illinois High School Association state journalism tournament.
Belleville West Junior Jessica Petrie took first place in the news writing division last month at Eastern Illinois University, marking the third year in a row Belleville West has had a state champion journalist. Meanwhile, O'Fallon sophomore Elliott Koehl won the state championship in the feature photography category.
O'Fallon Senior Michael Anderson placed fourth in the copy editing category. Belleville West Junior Rhea Abel, of Millstadt, took fifth place in the state in infographic design and Belleville West senior Victoria Thompson placed sixth in the state in review writing.
"We have a tradition of doing well at the state competition, and this year was no exception," said Laurie Bielong, sponsor of Belleville West's student paper, the Hy News. "I'm very proud of what our kids have done. We have a very strong group of writers."
Jessica said competitors were given bits of information about a fictional event and a few quotes that they had to craft into a story.
"I don't usually write news stories. I'm the features editor, so I was really shocked to win," Jessica said. "But I've always loved to write for as long as I can remember, so I think that helped me a lot."
Jessica's parents, John and Alice Petrie of Millstadt, said they knew of their daughter's excellent writing ability. But they were floored when they heard she won the state writing competition.
"She definitely has a gift," Alice Petrie said. "All throughout her high school career she has challenged herself, and it's great to see her hard work pay off. I think this is going to look great on a college application."
O'Fallon newspaper sponsor Mary Dempsey said she was amazed to see Koehl win because he was a sophomore facing much more experienced photographers.
"He has great enthusiasm for photography and knows what makes a great photo," Dempsey said of Elliott. "He's set the bar pretty high for himself in the future."
Elliott, son of Todd and Denise Koehl of O'Fallon, said he looks for emotion as much or more as action.
"I like to shoot behind- the-scenes shots that tell the story of an event," Elliott said. "And I like to shoot sporting events, too."
Dempsey said Michael, son of Bessie and Michael Anderson Sr. of Shiloh, impressed the judges when he was the only copy editor in state competition to notice an error in the directions for the contest.
"I didn't know if I should point that out or not," Michael said of when he noticed the mistake in the directions at the top of his assignment. "So I went ahead and did it and I think it turned out to be the right thing to do."
Rhea, the daughter of Janet and Wallace Abel of Millstadt, said she was given the task of creating a graphic that illustrated the favorite fast-food restaurants of students. She created a pie chart in the shape of a hamburger that had the names of the restaurants in the sesame seeds on the bun.
Victoria said students in her category listened to a rock band then had an hour and a half to write a review.
"It was something a little different for me because I usually review books," said Victoria, the daughter of Joy Hembel and Paul Thompson. "I liked them and I wrote a positive review. At sectionals I wrote a negative review. The judges said it was well written and I got a good score, but they said it was too mean."
Victoria said she plans to attend the University of Illinois in the fall where she wants to study political science and environmental studies.
Michael said he plans to go to McKendree University to study English and theology.
Belleville West placed first as a team in sectional competition at Carbondale while O'Fallon was third.
In 2007, O'Fallon student Alyssa Rademacher placed sixth in yearbook theme development.
In 2006, West student Lacey Gonzales won top state honors in the headline and caption writing category. In 2007, West's Maggie Powell was state champion in the editorial cartoon category.
O'Fallon's Elana Harrison placed third in the news writing category in 2007 while schoolmate Hannah Lloyd placed sixth in yearbook theme development.
Contact reporter Scott Wuerz at swuerz@bnd.com or 239-2626.
