For the editors of the Chantilly High School newspaper, it was deciding to highlight free speech on the cover of the Purple Tide newspaper.
For the staff of the high schools student television newscast, it was a three-minute piece about the demonstrations in Ferguson, Mo., concerning racial tensions between citizens and police. And for the teens who oversee the Chantilly High yearbook, its the independence to edit the Odyssey without meddling by the administration.
Its completely up to us, said Rachel Palmer, 17, a senior and co-editor of the yearbook. Theres no one to say, You cant do that.
Its that kind of authority to publish whatever the students want to that earned the high school journalists the Journalism Education Associations 2015 First Amendment Press Freedom Award. Chantilly was one of seven high schools to receive the honor and the only school in Virginia. The students will accept the award next month at a student journalism convention.
The award comes a year after Chantilly principal Teresa Johnson was named outstanding administrator of the year by the Southern Interscholastic Press Association.
Johnson, who became Chantillys principal in 2011, was honored for supporting an independent student press. Johnson said she has no direct influence on student media and does not review students work before publication. Students described her as a crucial ally because she does not interfere.
Johnson said that her goal is ensuring that faculty advisers teach the students how to be responsible journalists without infringing on their abilities to express themselves.
There is no greater real-life experience for our students than journalism, because they learn to problem-solve, think critically, collaborate, deal with conflict and communicate, Johnson said. I have faith in our students abilities to make decisions and, at times, to learn from their mistakes as well.
Erin Fowler, 18, a senior and co-editor of the Purple Tide, said that one example of editorial independence came when a faculty member said he had been misquoted in an interview with a reporter. But the reporter had recorded the conversation, so editors kept the quote.
We stood our ground, Fowler said. It really modeled our First Amendment rights.
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Chantilly High student journalists win award celebrating First Amendment