Prompt that reads Media literacy is connected to democracy. What are some top strategies to engage people of all ages with media literacy and democracy? JEA Logo and SPJ logo (Society Professional Journalists)

The Journalism Education Association and the Society of Professional Journalists announce three scholarship winners in the 2024 SPJ/JEA High School Essay Contest.

More than 115 students participated in the nationwide contest, which was judged by 8 journalism educators from around the country.

Established in 1998, the contest is a project of JEA and SPJ. The topic for the 2024 contest — “Media literacy is connected to democracy. What are some top strategies to engage people of all ages with media literacy and democracy?”

2024 SPJ/JEA High School Essay Contest winners:

— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Ayaan Shah, 11th grade, Emmaus (Pennsylvania) High School

— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Karolina Ostrowski, 11th grade, Millburn (New Jersey) High School

— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Adrian Moon, 10th grade, St. Mark’s School, Southborough, Massachusetts

Related Posts

Slade’s poster design to represent Scholastic Journalism Week 2026

A poster design from Theo Slade, senior at North Springs High School, Atlanta, was voted…

Read More ›

Six advisers recognized in fall 2025 Adviser Photography Contest

The Journalism Education Association hosted the fall 2025 JEA Adviser Photography Contest from Aug. 25…

Read More ›

JEA remembers 1999 Carl Towley Award recipient Kay D. Phillips Redding, who passed away Aug. 29, 2025

Longtime scholastic journalism teacher, adviser and advocate Kathleen (Kay) Douglass Phillips Redding, 86, died Aug.…

Read More ›