NORTH HARFORD HIGH SCHOOL
211 PYLESVILLE ROAD, PYLESVILLE MD 21132
March 29, 2021
410-638-3650
Mason takes third place in local competition;
Black History Oratory Contest announces winners ALEXA FALLS Reporter
eo I submitted was also my second take: I knew if I kept going it would get too rehearsed, so I stopped while I was ahead.” The quote from Chisholm was chosen by Mason. The quote states, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” Chisholm was an American politician and educator who became the first African American woman to be elected
To celebrate Black History Month, Maryland News station WJZ-TV hosted their Black History Oratory Competition for 2021 virtually and there were only three winners out of the 18 finalists. Third place was won by North Harford Senior, Taylor Mason. To enter in the competition, contestants had to choose one quote out of three said by influential African American individuals. The different quotes were stated by Shirley Chisholm, Martin Luther King Jr, and Mary McLeod. Contestants had to describe what it meant to them in 600 words or less. Mason has competed in Speech and Debate, so the 600-word count limit wasn’t difficult for her to achieve, “When I competed in Speech and Debate, I usually talk for 8-10 minutes.” She adds, “But when I had to film myself, it felt short […]. My WJZ video Senior Taylor was about 3 minutes, ry Competition. She won way less than what I Photo Credit: WJZ-TV was used to. The vid-
to the United States Congress in 1968. She represented New York’s twelfth congressional district in which she served seven terms from 1969 to 1983. Chisholm’s quote was chosen by Mason because, “Historically, tables have been the sites of the most influential successes and failures.” Mason says, “I connected this idea with my love for kids and then my next thought was
were from Civil Rights-era leaders, they encompassed the Black Lives Matter and other racial injustice protests of today.” She adds, “2020 showed all of us how much work still needs to be done to reach racial equality. Each quote inspired me in a different way and all of them together motivated me to enter the contest.” Prizes for the top three contestants varied. River Hill High junior, Nefertiti Griffin, won first place and got $700 from WJZ and a $2,000 scholarship gift from Toyota Financial Services. The second-place winner Teni Adedire, freshman at Eastern Technical High got $400 from WJZ and a $1,000 scholarship gift from Toyota Financial Services. Mason won $200 from WJZ and a $500 scholarship gift from Toyota Financial Services. Mason was asked if she would change her speech in any way to win first or second place, she says, “I really wouldn’t change anything about my speech. I am very proud Orato- of it.” Mason adds, “I listened to the other comcontest. petitors’ speeches and they were all amazing.
about the kids’ table: the biggest exclusion of children ever.” She explains, “It sounds silly, but when you’ve been turned away from the grown-ups table enough times, you start to want to bring up your own folding chair and make them listen to you.” Mason chose to participate in the contest because of the quotes. She says, “All of them were interesting and even though they
Mason’s speech entry for WJZ’s Black History third place competing with 18 other finalists in the
Meteorologist gives insight to aspiring journalists ERICA OTTE Reporter Timothy Springer, a daybreak meteorologist from Wichitaw, Kansas on the news channel KOLR10, visits the North Harford High School Journalism One (J1) class. The aspiring journalists were able to learn a lot from an experienced TV personnel. Cole H, a J1 student commented on this, saying he learned that journalists should “Try to be relatable to the audience as much as possible, such as clothing or hairstyle. Also, try to talk to your audience like you would your own family.” By relating to these students, Springer is positively impacting how they feel about the subject. He is showing that someone just like them was able to accomplish this much, so they can do the same, therefore inspiring young minds to continue pursuing their dreams.
Being on TV, no matter how really young age that it is somemany people see him, Springer thing we’ve wanted to pursue.” faces criticism daily. Another J1 Learning from criticism is a vistudent, Noel Baileyo, comment- tal lesson to learn when working ed “I was surprised about the in an industry reliant on the peonumber of negative comments he ples’ opinions, however it is best got. He also mentioned that you to “Listen to the critiques and just have to sit back and lismove on,” Olesya James ten to it” because you stated, summarizcould learn from it, ing Springer’s however he ultidedication “Listen to critiques mately knows to the job and move on.” that these comwhilst sharments should ing what - Olesya James, not become a she thought freshman setback since was the most his dream of beinteresting ing a meteoroloand insightful gist is something he part of his presentahas always wished to pursue. tion. Another great piece Springer agreed saying, “. I was of advice given during his visalways that crazy kid that was it was, in Gabrielle Moxham’s going out into thunderstorms opinion, “When you mess up, or running out and watching just shake it off and keep going hurricanes come our way[..] A because you are probably going lot of us have realized from a to do it in another two seconds”.
Another important aspect of being on TV and being the face of a news station is the toll that criticism takes on your mental health. Since the station Springer is on, and most other TV stations, are on most of the day, they need to be prepared to have little time to recuperate. Even when the station is not up and running, they are on social media and other platforms that can have a negative effect on mental health. It is just another part of the job, however in Springer’s experience with it, he says “I’m thankful I haven’t dealt with depression or too much anxiety. But occasionally we all can deal with it and I just try to take a step back and regroup.” Being a meteorologist, Springer has to chase after his own stories, dangerously gaining information about storms by going towards them himself. J1 student, Gary
“Thought it was very cool how he goes into storms and kind of risks his life for his job. He talked about it with such ease that it was kind of impressive.” Brookelyn Priebe adds, “I was kind of surprised about how you have to actually chase a storm and that [weather reporting] is not just a thing people say. I think it’s pretty interesting how he could just come up with a weather update off the top of his head and still sound professional and real.”This professionalism rubs off on the students who may want to follow in that same path. Springer was able to become a great example of what an experienced public speaker looks like, illustrating what the students should and should not do when in the spotlight. Springer adds that being able to take hurtful criticism is crucial in being a successful journalist