A student from Mid-Pacific Institute is the state High School Journalist of the Year. The award is presented by the national Journalism Education Association.
Chelsee Sawai is the co-editor-in-chief of Mid-Pac’s student newspaper “Na Pueo.” She joined the school newspaper her sophomore year because she loved to write. Sawai sent her portfolio to JEA as a senior to showcase her accomplishments.
"Journalists are looked at as probably people that are nosy in a way. And so I really wanted to just show people, especially through my application and portfolio that I had to submit in order to win this award, that that's really not what journalism is about," she told HPR.
"Journalism is about speaking, not only the reporter's mind but also speaking for the audience that they are advocating for. And that's why I really like being a reporter for my school," Sawai said.
Sawai says she is proud of her article on student enrollment numbers impacted by the pandemic.
She will be attending Chapman University as a bioscience major to pursue her goals in medicine. Sawai plans to join student journalism extracurriculars to continue reporting.
