JEA selects two Future Journalism Teacher Scholarship winners in 2026

Vivian Landis and Victoria Kate Pursley are the recipients of this year’s Future Journalism Teacher Scholarships(opens in new tab). Each will receive $1,000 from the Journalism Education Association.

Vivian Landis is entering her senior year as a secondary English education major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. For the past three years she has served on the staff of the Daily Nebraskan, beginning as a news reporter and working her way to the senior culture editor. Landis also served as an editor of Laurus Literary magazine for the past two years.

In high school, Landis was active in Omaha North High School’s The North Star newspaper. As a sophomore she was a feature and sports reporter. As a junior, she was the feature and sports editor. Finally, as a senior she became editor-in-chief of the entire newspaper.

But she said a move across town to another high school her senior year “really solidified the idea of becoming a journalism adviser.” That school struggled to find a full-time adviser replacement, and, as one of her recommenders emphasized, “Vivian became the primary leader of the staff, with the department head acting as adviser.” She “fought censorship, created publication deadlines, submitting awards and supporting her staff. She did so with grace, maturity and a passion for journalism that inspired others and saved the program for her school.”

Landis, who has straight A’s in eight journalism classes, wrote, “As a journalism teacher, I desire to teach high school journalism because of the safe space it created for me as a student. I want to be able to create a classroom that fosters both community and passion, a place where students are able to advocate for themselves and the things they care about.”

Victoria Kate Pursley is a sophomore at University of Texas at Austin, who expects to graduate in 2029. She is from Odessa, Texas. Her major is journalism, with a minor in sports media.

“I want to teach high school journalism because journalism is, has been and will continue to be vital in maintaining honesty and trust within our communities. Now more than ever, journalism is necessary to ensure that important stories are being told and the truth is transparent,” Pursley wrote in her application.

From a journalism elective she took as a high school freshman, Pursley followed her adviser’s encouragement to participate in the University Interscholastic League’s journalism contests, where she competed for four years and advanced to the state contest her sophomore, junior and senior years. Her sophomore year, she also joined the yearbook staff, becoming editor- in-chief her junior and senior years.

Now going into her second year as a journalism major, she is a sports reporter and copy editor of the university’s student newspaper, The Daily Texan. In the summer, she continued working for the newspaper from her hometown as copy editor. She also has straight A’s in her journalism classes.

“I was granted a great journalism teacher in high school who made me want to find my place in this industry,” Pursley wrote in her application. “I cannot wait to continue to find my footing as a journalist, absorb all the information and experience possible, and pass on that knowledge to the next generation of journalists.”