Fairhope High School journalism students and their teacher won a variety of awards at the Alabama Scholastic Press Association (ASPA).

From top three placements across the board to the adviser of the year award, the school did not go home empty handed.

Fairhope High School's journalism teacher, Angela Hobart, said this was the first year the school submitted anything to the awards ceremony. They brought home a total of 17 awards from the Feb. 21 event, which was held at the University of Alabama.

"(The students) were really excited. They didn't know what to expect," Hobart said. "They had never been to a conference before."

Hobart retired from education in Mississippi after 31 years of teaching English and is going on 13 years of teaching journalism. After moving to Fairhope in 2022, she took a temporary position as the city's high school English teacher.

After asking Principal Jon Cardwell if she could start a journalism department at the school, she received the approval and started also teaching website news, broadcast journalism and yearbook. After some time, she started teaching photojournalism also using a course she created while in Mississippi.

Now she selectively teaches the four journalism classes at Fairhope High as Cardwell "empowered" her to increase the number of journalism classes.

Hobart said on the ASPA victories, "When they see their awards for their hard work, they see why we have a deadline and why it's important. … I think it brings it into the real world."

In her classes, Hobart strives to teach the "responsibility of journalism" by teaching students how to fact check and confirm stories while also showing the "consequences of unethical journalism."

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While several of her past students now have jobs in broadcasting and communications positions, she says the class is important for all who are "transitioning from teenagers to adulthood," specifically in the realm of fact checking and media literacy.

"It's important to remember I teach teenagers. I don't teach journalism," Hobart said. "We use journalism to teach facts and the importance in ethics and communication."

Another life-lesson component to Hobart's classes is the encouraged collaboration of students on news stories and assignments. She said this is almost necessary as now she finds that "90-95%" of the junior and senior students in her classes have jobs and "don't have the time they used to have."

"Students used to not have to juggle their time like they do now," Hobart said, comparing journalism education now to when she started teaching it in 2012. "… They have to work together more than they used to."

The ASPA awards highlighted the individual and collaborative efforts Fairhope High School puts into their news pieces, yearbook and photography.

With submitted work from the school's publications including The Pirateer, The Bay Breeze and WFHS Pirateer Vision, Hobart was "proud of their work" and excited to see the students' year long journalism work given recognition.

Jilian Surla won the first-place yearbook photo, first-place website news feature story, third place for website news story and an honorable mention for website news photo.

Riley Wootten won the first-place award for website columns and editorials, second place for website news story and third place for website news feature story.

Kendall Kirchoff, Halle Smith, Makayla Gardner and Hannah Cate Miller won first-place website news story for their contributions.

Valery Bedoya, Hannah Cate Miller, Makayla Gardner and Charlotte Guilian won second place for their website news feature story.

Bridget Capella, Charlotte Guilian and Caroline Anderson won third place for website news story.

The WFHS Pirate Vision Staff won Overall Broadcast Merit Award, and the Fairhope High School staff won the Spirit of ASPA Award, Tina the Toucan.

At the ASPA ceremony there was also an on-site competition, where Fairhope High School was able to earn more awards to take home. Each of the top three news feature writing awards.

News feature writing first place went to Amelia Bates and Charlotte Guilian, second place to Riley Wootten and third place Jillian Surla.

Another award the school won from the competition was the photography feature photo where Kailyn Powell won second place.

Hobart won ASPA's Susie Dement Adviser of the Year Award, after being nominated by two of her students. Hobart said Susie Dement, the awards namesake, was an Alabama teacher who received a Gold Key Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for her contributions to student press working with high school sports publications.

"To be in the company of her is a big honor for me," Hobart said.