Principal Gregory Fucheck of Bronx (New York) River High School has been named the Journalism Education Association’s 2025 Administrator of the Year for his support of scholastic journalism and student press rights.
Deborah Porterfield, CJE, has advised Bronx River News since it was founded.
“Our newspaper’s existence, growth and success would not have happened without the enthusiastic support of our principal,” Porterfield said. “When we launched our school newspaper in 2021, he encouraged me to take risks, saying, ‘School newspapers should be controversial.’”
Fucheck supports the students in their efforts to tell important stories in many ways, including inviting them into a “closed” meeting about how principals should handle immigration checks and allowing the newspaper to be the first to report that the school was moving to remote Fridays before he made the announcement to the student body.
“Our newspaper frequently writes about controversial topics and Mr. Fucheck is open to sharing what he knows and providing contact information for sources who might have more insights,” Porterfield said. “What he does not do, however, is tell the staff what to write or ask to check quotes or facts. He trusts the staff members to do their jobs, which makes it easier to do just that. He stays out of the newspaper decision making, even when the choices upset others.”
Fucheck also gives financial support to the journalism program, even when the school’s budget is tight, providing funds to buy digital cameras, podcast equipment and memory cards and finding a way to pay for pizza celebrations and recruitment lunches.
Lara Bergen, founder and CEO of Press Pass NYC, an organization dedicated to helping public schools start and sustain student news publications, said Fucheck’s support also goes beyond his school.
“I know how important administration support is to a start-up student news program’s success, and how many principals at best don’t appreciate their role and at worst actively undermine and doom it,” Bergen said. “Greg, however, has embraced the power and potential of scholastic journalism from the very beginning. In doing so, he has also ignited an exciting, newfound and much needed awareness of the important role journalism education plays in student learning and school community throughout the Bronx, the borough with the highest poverty rate in New York City.”
“Greg has also been a dynamic ambassador for journalism education beyond his own building, regularly sending the Bronx River News staff to represent the school to district leaders and present their journalism program as a key component of literacy education,” Bergen said. “There is a very real and exciting journalism education movement happening in the Bronx now, and Greg Fucheck is one to thank for helping make this happen.”
Louisa Avery, MJE, JEA Awards Committee chair