Eleven OTT writers win state awards

Eleven Oaktown Teen Times students picked up awards at a ceremony for California high school journalists at San Francisco's Conservartory of Flowers on May 17.

This year's contest, sponsored by the Northern California Press Women, included entries from all over California because the director of the southern chapter reportedly fell ill and could not run the regional contest.

Taking home second place prizes were Jose Alvarenga and Fuey Saechao of Fremont Federation's Media Academy and Monica Floyd of Skyline High. A judge called Alvarenga and Saechao's feature story "Teens Warm Up Laborer’s Days” one of the top stories in the contest. Judge Jim Finefrock wrote that Floyd's opinion piece "Generation Ignorant Misuses Tech Tools" was "classic."

Judges also were impressed with work done by students at Oakland High and Castlemont Business, Information and Technology School (CBITS) for the news story "Two students fatally shot in 16-day span" and awarded them a third-place prize. Writers were Onisha Barham, Thao Tran and Rosey Uribe of Oakland High and Devonna Atkins and Ameriah Hayes of CBITS.

Jack Mejia, another Media Academy student, won a third prize for her feature story "Can vampires build your SAT vocab?" and Oakland Unity High students Karina Gonzalez and Jessica Ortega won an honorable mention in features for "The Quinceanera – pricey rite of passage."

Before the awards, students, advisers and family members received a tour of the Conservatory of Flowers, part of the Golden Gate Park that needed to be rebuilt when strong winds blew out the structure's glass windows in 1995

Journalists Thank Donors for Portland Trip

Here is one of four letters written by students to donors who helped fund an OTT trip to Portland, Ore., for a journalism convention in April.

Dear Donors,

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to go to Portland for the journalism convention. That was my first time going on an airplane and it was a fun experience. I enjoyed meeting new people from different states. It gave me a chance to talk to other students about their newspapers and how their newspaper classes operate. It gave me a chance to see how different Oakland is from Portland. For example, we have to pay for BART in Oakland, but in Portland they get to ride it for free. Also, Portland has no sales tax! I also learned that Portland takes recycling seriously. It was a good experience to go out of California and explore something new. Overall, this was an experience I’ll never forget and I would love to do it all over again. Thanks so much once again.

Sincerely,
Fuey

Nine OTT writers win Bay Area journalism awards

Nine Oaktown Teen Times reporters from four Oakland high schools are on a list of winners in a prestigious Bay Area journalism contest.

The students will find out just what they've won in the National Federation of Press Women's annual contest during a May 17 ceremony at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco.

The NFPW released its list of 142 winners on May 7. OTT winners are Ameriah Hayes and DeVonna Atkins of Castlemont Business and Information Technology School, Jose Alvarenga, Jack Mejia and Fuey Saechao of Fremont Federation's Media Academy, Onisha Barham, Thao Tran and Rosey Uribe of Oakland High and Monica Floyd of Skyline High.

The awards will follow a press conference and tour in the renovated Conservatory of Flowers, located in Golden Gate Park.