By Rebecca Martin, FCHS Journalism Program
Fluvanna County High School has earned a Trophy Class award from the Virginia High School League (VHSL) for its 2023 “Retrospect” yearbook. This is the equivalent of receiving a state award. In addition, the school received a First-Class award for the 2023 “Undefined” Literary Magazine and a Second-Class award for the 2023 Fluco Beat online news site. All three publications are run through the school’s journalism classes under the direction of Journalism Adviser Elizabeth Pellicane.
Here are the students who oversaw those publications:
2023 Yearbook Editors: 2023 FCHS graduates Sophie Harris and Asiana Hawkins;
2023 Literary Magazine Editor: Senior Kessler Potter;
2023 Fluco Beat Editors: 2023 FCHS graduates Molly Pace and Erika Schmack, as well as senior Gabrielle Etchison.
Although it is not the first time FCHS Journalism has been awarded Trophy Class for one of its publications, having won it for its 2021 Literary Magazine, this is the first time that the school has received Trophy Class for the yearbook.
“I feel it was such an honor to work on the yearbook last year. Everyone was so fun to be around and nobody ever had to worry about being alone,” said Yearbook Editor Katie Bond, who is currently creating the 2024 Yearbook “Phases” with Co-Editor Savannah Morris. “I think the award was well-deserved, not just because the book looked great, but because of all the hard work and dedication that was put into it,” she added.
The FCHS journalism team has several ongoing projects, including making an annual yearbook that covers all 180 days of school, a school news website that updates daily, and a literary magazine run primarily by the FCHS Literary Magazine Club.
“It is a huge amount of work, both for me and my students, juggling three publications at a time and maintaining high standards. For example, we are currently publishing 35 or more articles a month on the Fluco Beat, while also capturing photos and stories of what is going on at FCHS for the yearbook. But I think it’s a positive experience for students because it teaches them how to multi-task and prepares them for a busy workplace environment,” said Pellicane.
2024 yearbooks can be pre-ordered at jostensyearbooks.com, while the student news site can be found at www.theflucobeat.com. The 2024 literary magazine will be published online in May of 2024.
