SANTIAGO AVILA WINS A JOURNALISM AWARD AT SOUTHERN ADVENTIST UNIVERSITY

Melissa Weisner

Academy.

One of the respondents, Avila began his entry with the example of “The War of the Worlds” entering American homes on October 30, 1938 through their radios. This was a unique broadcast as it was made to sound like true journalistic news when in reality it was a hoax. Avila wrote of how the chaos that ensued because of the broadcast cost the American people. He spoke of integrity. He spoke of honesty and he drew a parallel to modern news outlets today.

presentation. It was at this event that the winners of the contest were announced and received their awards for their submissions.

Once the winners of each category were announced, it was then that Avila realized he was the grand prize winner of $1,000. Prior to his name being called, he was acclaimed for connecting the previous chaos with the “War of the Worlds” to modern journalism. It was this insight that set Avila apart from the other submissions.

On December 1, 2022, Santiago Avila loaded up and headed to Southern Adventist University (Southern) for an event about the importance of truth in journalism. The School of Journalism and Communications Department of Southern (SJC) sponsored a journalism contest for academies within the Southern Union. Students could win cash prizes by submitting written journalism, photographic journalism, or video journalism that demonstrated the theme of the importance of truth. With the top award offering a $1,000 cash prize. Highland Academy’s very own, Santiago Avila won the best overall entry for his written work on why it is important to always be truthful in journalism. While reviewing multiple opportunities for scholarships in the senior ACT Prep/College and Career Readiness class at Highland Academy, a unique contest crossed the teacher’s desk. The SJC had sent flyers about a journalism contest, asking students to submit a response to why truth matters. The contest was a way to introduce the topic and also promote an event that would feature the famous journalist Carl Bernstein, who was scheduled to speak at the university on December 1.

There were several cash prizes,within each category with the overall prize offering $1,000 to the talented winner. Many students entered with several entries from our very own Highland

The SJC at southern invited all of the winners to their campus for the special presentation by Carl Bernstein. The winners had the opportunity to meet Mr. Bernstein prior to his

Congratulations Santiago Avila! Truth in journalism matters as much today as it ever did.

Let us get better acquainted with Principal Chadd Watkins. He has been the Principal of Highland Academy for a number of years, and prior to that worked as a gymnastics coach and boys Dean. If a student wanted to celebrate his birthday, it would be difficult, as it lands on a month that Highland is not in session: It is June 15,

1978.

If Principal Watkins could go anywhere in the world right now, it would be to Europe with his wife because she has wanted to go for a while now. When he is not dreaming about a trip to Europe, Mr. Watkins enjoys birdwatching. He claims to have picked it up from his dad, Pastor John Watkins.

“...I love being outside in nature and in pursuit of something hard to find or difficult to see,” he said, “the pursuit of something you never thought you would see before.

” Mr. Watkins finds satisfaction in finding something uncommon or rare. His favorite pastime or hobby, however, is