See Isaiah Ramos’ and Messiah Licon’s winning story here.
See Tenessa Hinojos Leyva’s winning story here.
MARFA — Marfa High School student journalists gained valuable field experience this past weekend covering the annual Marfa Lights Festival on behalf of The Big Bend Sentinel.
For the second year in a row, high school reporters enrolled in Adele Powers’ journalism class competed against one another to report and write about the event. As opposed to selecting a singular winner, The Sentinel editorial team chose to publish two articles this year to honor the students’ hard work in the competition.
The two winning entries, penned by senior Tenessa Hinojos Leyva and juniors Isaiah Ramos and Messiah Licon, can be found in this week’s edition of the paper. The authors will be awarded a $150 prize. Senior Andres Solis also contributed lively photographs that captured the spirit of the annual event and will be awarded prize money.
Sentinel Managing Editor Rob D’Amico said each winning article had its own strengths, from Tenessa’s narrative flow to Isaiah and Messiah’s interviewing skills.
“Tenessa captured the spirit and meaning of the event but didn’t sugarcoat some of the negatives,” D’Amico said. “Overall, Tenessa had a very readable and fluid style of writing that flowed well. I also liked the focus on the festival serving as a reunion of friends and family.”
“The Licon/Ramos team offered a perspective from a teenage point of view but also did a great job of getting three good interviews with locals that have watched the festival change over the years,” D’Amico said.
Students said they were looking forward to seeing their names in print and spending the prize money they earned. “It was a rush to write and report the story after only one class period, since I interviewed over the weekend and then had to put it together Tuesday,” Tenessa said. “And also, a huge thank you to my bestie Amber for reminding me to interview and do this project during Marfa Lights. I’m going to put the money into my savings — but maybe first I will get my dog Birdie a chew toy!”
“It was fun to compete, we look forward to winning again next year,” Isaiah and Messiah said. “The best part was interviewing and getting other people’s opinions on the festival. We’re gonna buy random stuff on the internet with that money.”
At the start of the school year, Sentinel reporter Mary Cantrell spoke to the journalism students to give an overview of the project and share reporting tips. Powers said the journalism class is small this year, and many students were out for a volleyball tournament during Marfa Lights, but she is proud of the kids who were in town and “got down to their reporting.”
“I was so proud of Isaiah and Messiah for interviewing David Beebe, the county commissioner; it takes real guts to go up to someone, especially a stranger, and ask for an interview,” Powers said. “And Tenessa’s angle about this festival being unique in our town was really smart, I thought, and underscored the importance of our community.”
