In May, Youth Journalism International announced the winners of its yearly contest, and Harker came up big. Class of 2012 graduates Sanjana Baldwa, Michelle Lo, Priyanka Mody, Jennie Xu, Laura Yau and grade 12 student Samantha Hoffman took second place in team reporting in a news story for their article, “Harpa Symbolizes a Turning Point for Icelandic Culture: A Monumental Resurrection.”

Harker won three awards in the team reporting feature story category, taking first place for a story by Michelle Deng ’12 and Allison Kiang, grade 9, titled, “Celebrating Survivors: Tales of Two Women and Their Victories Against Breast Cancer,” and second place for the story “Great White at Monterey Bay Aquarium” by Alisha Mayor ’12 and Samar Malik, grade 10. Priyanka Mody and Meena Chetty, grade 10, won an honorable mention for their story, “Self-Acceptance: Conquering an Eating Disorder.”

In the profile category, Shilpa Nataraj ’12 earned an honorable mention for “Japanese Musician Shares Traditional Instruments and Music.” First place in the first-person essay category went to Nayeon Kim, who wrote “Musicality, The Beauty of Chamber Music.”

Harker journalism’s photo squad also took home several awards, including first place in sports photo, for a water polo photo titled “Desperate Save,” taken by Megan Prakash, grade 10. Class of 2012 graduates Devin Nguyen and Laura Yau tied for second place in sports photo, Nguyen for his “Varsity Football” photo and Yau for “Running the Ball,” also a football shot. Prakash also took second place in the news photo category for her shot, titled “Pull!”