Journalist of the Year: Brooklynn Berumez of Waterloo West, Wahawk Insider
We are excited to announced that Brooklynn Berumez has been named Iowa’s High School Journalist of the Year. She earns a $500 scholarship and has the opportunity to represent Iowa in the National Journalist of the Year contest.
The judging committee stated, “We see in Brooklynn Berumez a strong leader who exhibits some of scholastic journalism’s greatest traits — telling stories that matter through words and photographs, leading and teaching others to do this work at a high level, and taking huge steps outside what had been her comfort zone to explore the world and tell the truth about it. She is on a personal journey of overcoming shyness and finding her voice as a leader and teacher for the Wahawk Insider. Her story is inspiring. How important can high school journalism be? “It changed her life,” one of the judges said about Brooklynn during deliberations on this award. Congratulations.“
Berumez serves as the Yearbook Editor-in-Chief for the Wahawk Yeabook with this being her first year as a Reporter for the Wahawk Insider, Waterloo West’s student newspaper. You can check out Brooklynn’s portfolio here. You can check out more of Brooklynn’s work here.
Brooklynn is Waterloo West’s third Iowa Journalist of the Year in the row. Waterloo West also earned 19 Yearbook awards at the Fall Conference. Congratulations to Brooklynn and to Waterloo West!
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2nd place: Evelyn Kraber, Iowa City West, West Side Story
Evelyn Kraber earns second place and a $300 scholarship. The judging committee noted, “We liked Evelyn Kraber’s clear, concise and comprehensive account of their passion for journalism and their journey toward it. Their journalism examples — which include pieces that have already received national recognition — are strong. Their stories are concise and clearly define the issues and motivations driving them, yet they keep their opinion out of the story and let those speaking have their chance. They show multimedia talent to go with their demonstrated deep thought about the stories they write. Especially clever was their decision to adapt existing newsroom traditions to evolving times instead of simply blowing up the place. And, oh yeah, they were asked to serve in a teaching assistant role in English.” Check out Evelyn’s portfolio here.
Evelyn serves as the Online Editor-in-Chief of the West Side Story website as well as the Yearbook Managing Editor. This is Evelyn’s third year on web staff and their first year on print and yearbook staff.
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3rd place: Lily Rantanen, Iowa City High, The Little Hawk
Lily Rantanen earns third place and a $100 scholarship. The judging committee noted, “Lily Rantanen’s strengths give life to good, hard-news journalism. She’s organized, focused and able to combine strong reporting with excellent design. One of the judges called a personal narrative about herself the best he has read during several years of working with this contest. She scored a must-read with a piece about Iowa brain drain, in which she kept context and spoke directly to her peers. She also shows good command of multimedia reporting.” Check out Lily‘s portfolio here.
Lily serves as the Executive Editor and Feature Editor of The Little Hawk. Lily was also named one of the ten Emerging Journalists in 2024.
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Honorable Mention: Lydia Gerety, Ankeny High School, The Talon
Lydia Gerety earned an honorable mention. The judging committee noted, “Lydia Gerety demonstrates the curiosity needed for journalism and a get-it-done mentality. We especially liked her including in entry video of her father helping a grade-school Lydia do her “first” journalism. Cute and clever” Check out Lydia‘s portfolio here.
Lydia serves as the Editor-in-Chief of The Talon.
