Three students are first members inducted
With "The War Cry" student newspaper at Brookwood School now in its second year of publication, faculty adviser Mona Lewis applied for and was granted a Quill and Scroll International Honor Society charter for Brookwood.
A ceremony in Crozer Hall Monday night was a blend of a solemn occasion with several lighthearted moments as the first three candidates were inducted into membership in Quill and Scroll.
Lewis outlined the qualifications for membership in the honor society that was first established in 1926. Candidates must be of junior or senior status, be scholastically in the upper third of their class and have performed superior work in high school journalism. In addition, they must be recommended by the adviser of the school publication and approved by the international society's executive director.
In her introduction of inductee Mickey Betters, a senior and one of the original staff members of the student newspaper that began in 2008, Lewis said, "Mickey has shown prowess as a feature writer, an editorial writer and a straight news writer."
Lewis added that Betters worked late nights and Sunday afternoons to produce the paper. "Her ability to envision design elements on a page and pull an 11th-hour hat trick again and again are just two of the reasons she is a candidate for induction."
Kyle Hunter, a junior and another of the first students to produce "The War Cry," taught himself to use the paper's original design program, "Quark."
"Without his guidance and leadership," Lewis said, "I doubt we would have ever gotten the first issue off the ground. He is a succinct, yet eloquent writer who can tackle any assignment."
Abby Lewis, a senior, joined the newspaper staff after the first issue.
"Abby's organizational skills are key to the paper," Lewis explained. "Last year she handled our business account. This year she established our filing system, and against all odds, attempts to keep our work area organized. She has developed swiftly as a strong news writer, who seamlessly incorporates research into her articles."
All 14 current members of "The War Cry" staff were present at the ceremony. Since seven students published the first edition of the newspaper almost two years ago, the staff has grown and 12 issues of the paper have been produced. The 11 students who observed the Quill and Scroll induction were 10th graders Lee Avera, Taylor Bragg, Mary Claire Courtney, Jacob Dennis, Daniel Fortner, Justin Johnson and Caroline Penhallegon, 11th grade students Sarah Taylor and Alex Walter, along with seniors Ben Mavity and John Moore.
Parents, faculty members and administrators also attended the ceremony to watch Brookwood's first three Quill and Scroll members receive their pins and membership cards.
The guest speaker was Shannon Colavecchio, who was editor-in-chief of the University of Florida student-run independent newspaper, "Florida Alligator," her senior year there in 1999. She subsequently worked as a reporter at the "Palm Beach Post" and the "St. Petersburg Times" and is now with Moore Consulting Group, a public relations and marketing firm in Tallahassee.
Colavecchio shared her experiences as a fledgling reporter, interviewing a variety of subjects from carnival and circus performers to a bereaved husband of an accident victim.
She advised the young journalists, "Be accurate - get it right, be empathetic - care about the subject, and have fun."
Having enjoyed her career as a reporter, Colavecchio observed, "The camaraderie you find in the newsroom is unlike the camaraderie anywhere else."
Guest Speaker, Shannon Colavecchio
Three new Quill and Scroll members, L to R, Kyle Hunter, Abby Lewis and Mickey Betters, along with faculty adviser Mona Lewis
