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.

Gang injunction press conference held for OTT writers

City Attorney John Russo points to a 100-block "Safety Zone" on a map of Oakland that would be set up if a judge grants the city an injunction against the North Side Oakland gang. Russo and Captain Anthony Toribio of the Oakland Police Department held a press conference for Oaktown Teen Times journalists on April 19 at Media Academy on the Fremont Federation of High Schools campus. About 40 students and teachers attended the event.

Oakland students heading to national journalism convention

Get current in Portland! Five Oakland students, plus adviser Daniel Zarazua (Unity High School), writing coach Nadine Joseph, and co-managing editors Lisa Shafer and Beatrice Motamedi, are heading to Portland on April 14 for the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Convention.

During their three-day stay, students will listen to keynote speakers (including Nigel Jaquiss, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for Willamette Week), meet with professional journalists, and attend workshops on everything from writing basics and the role of women in sports reporting to journalism ethics and the latest in multimedia.

A successful fundraising push in March enabled OTT to offer financial support to five students: Fuey Saechao and Carolyn Saephan (Media Academy); Julie Ortega and Bianca Ramos (Unity High); and Pamela Tapia (EXCEL High School).

For some of these students, going to Portland is a real first — the first time they've been out of the Bay Area, the first time they've been on a plane, the first time they'll meet other journalism students from around the country.

In an essay applying for the trip, sophomore Julie Ortega said that journalism helps her express herself and give back to her community.

"Journalists have an important role in society because they are the main people who are able to inform people about many news and events," Ortega wrote. "They tell people what they think is unfair or unjust .... without it, people will not be able to know about events that happen or what the government is planning to do."

We couldn't agree more. Congratulations to Julie and all of our student journalists!

Good news in December

Our second issue of the Oaktown came off the press this week with 30 stories/features from 8 schools -- Oakland High, Castlemont/CBITS, Fremont/Mandela, McClymonds/EXCEL, Skyline, Fremont/Media Academy, Oakland Technical and Unity High. To date, more than 75 students have contributed to the newspaper. Almost all low-income students of color.

As of 7:41 p.m. on December 15, the Oaktown Teen Times is $273 away from fulfilling its Donors Choose grant, with a match from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation!

Those who wish to donate to this all-city newspaper, can send a check, payable to Oaktown Teen Times, c/o Media Alliance, 1904 Franklin Street, Suite 500, Oakland, CA 94612.

Check back with us soon on this blog as we hope to provide links to our updated newspaper website.

Donations Big and Small Will Be Matched!

Any donation made to the Oaktown Teen Times through DonorsChoose.org now through Dec. 6, 2009 will be matched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Your donation through DonorsChoose is 100% tax-deductible. To donate this way, simply click on this link http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html?keywords=urban+scholastic+newspaper&x=9&y=17

Donations may also be mailed directly to the Oaktown Teen Times, 574 48th Street #302, Oakland, CA 94609.

If you wish to receive a receipt for tax deduction purposes, please make checks payable to Media Alliance, our fiscal sponsor, and place "Oaktown Teen Times" in the memo.

Writers receive national attention

A half dozen stories by Oaktown Teen Times writers have gone national.

The stories were picked up for the national edition of http://www.my.hsj.org/, a Web site run by the American Society of New Editors that hosts nearly 3,000 school newspapers.

"Based on their quality and appeal to a broad teen readership. ... these selections [were chosen and] represent stories that were the most interesting or moving of the week," according to ASNE officials in charge of the teen journalism site.

Oakland stories chosen for the national edition were: "From zoo critters to cool fashion: Senior Projects break ground, develop talents," by Ellissia Hill, MetWest High; "Principal returns to school after 10-day suspension," by Isabel Rodriguez-Vega and Eugene W. Lau, Skyline High "Oakland Tech grad Rickey Henderson selected for baseball hall of fame," by Hiroyuki Ito, Oakland Tech "Oakland teens shocked by police killings," by Gabrielle Carbaloc, Karina Gonzalez, Brisa Padilla and Dolores Quintara, Unity High School, "'Watchmen' works and not just for comic fans," by Bradley Izaguirre, Unity High School and "BART shooting reveals community mistrust of cops," by Javier Panzar, Skyline High School.

OTT editors recognized by school board

Oaktown Teen Times editors Beatrice Motamedi and Lisa Shafer received recognition from the Oakland Unified School District board at a June 10 meeting.

District spokesman Troy Flint said that he had been impressed with the quality of reporting by student journalists as they gather news about the district.

OTT students win NFPW writing awards

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF PRESS WOMEN -- Bay Area winners

OTT writer Ronald Johnson of Media Academy won first place in features writing for "Oakland develops 'Great Debaters,'" a story on the inaugural year of the Bay Area Urban Debate League.

Another first place for OTT work went to the editorial board of the Skyline Oracle. Their editorial, "Blocking the web limits free speech," was reprinted in the February issue of the OTT. Students contributing to the editorial were Javier Panzar, Diamond Broussard, Sam Lubin and Isabel Rodriguez-Vega.

The Oaktown Teen Times also picked up a pair of third place prizes from NFPW. Emely Srimoukda of Media Academy won third for her news story, "Define Google: learning tool or off-limits?" And Alenna So of Oakland High won third for her column "Sadness, sorrow facts of life in Darfur."

Congratulations to all!