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Glacier High Journalists Honored

Junior Audrey Mostek has been awarded a week-long trip to Washington D.C.

By Beacon Staff

Two student journalists from Glacier High School were recognized in April, and one has been awarded a week-long trip to Washington D.C. to study journalism along with top student reporters from every state.

Junior Audrey Mostek will represent Montana at the 2016 Al Neuharth Free Spirit Conference June 18 to 23 in Washington, D.C. She also received a $1,000 scholarship to use at the college of her choice. Only one student per state is chosen to attend the conference and the Freedom Forum will pay all expenses for Mostek.

Senior Debbie Gilbertson was awarded second place in Montana for her photo of Glacier boys basketball. She won second place in Class AA in the 2016 High School Newspaper Competition, sponsored by the Montana Journalism Education Association and the School of Journalism at the University of Montana.

Ted Burnham, who is the journalism, yearbook and photojournalism teacher at Glacier, said he is excited and proud of his students.

“This is a case of hard work paying off,” Burnham said. “Audrey is full of ideas and she works her stories from many angles. She saw the opportunity to attend this conference and went for it. She could barely contain herself when she found out she won the spot to represent Montana.”

“Debbie was our go-to photographer this year,” Burnham added. “She could be counted on time-and-again to deliver some great sports pictures. She deserves this recognition.”

Mostek, who is editor-in-chief of the GHS student newspaper, the Howl, said she is looking forward to the conference and can’t wait to fly to D.C. “I’m honored to be representing such a great state,” said Mostek, who called the the opportunity to visit the nation’s capitol and learn from famous journalists a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Gilberston, who took a semester of photojournalism, covered about 30 extracurricular events during the 2015-2106 school year. She said she was drawn to photography because “there are so many different ways to take one picture.”

Gilbertson’s winning photo was of a GHS boys basketball player who was knocked to the floor and was looking back at the referee. Gilbertson said she is uncertain if photojournalism is in her future, but that she expects it to be at least a lifetime hobby.