Every year students work hard to earn their letterman jackets for sports, clubs and academics. This year in journalism  three students, senior Avery Heist, junior Hannah Hansen, and sophomore Mallery Koehler, were awarded their letterman jackets Oct. 12. 

To earn a letterman jacket in journalism, students must accumulate six points by the beginning of their senior year. Members from newspaper or yearbook earn points for being editors, staff members, and winning contests or awards.

“I was pretty surprised. I was not expecting Mrs. Thedford to call me up to the front of the room and give me my jacket,” Hansen said. 

Hansen is the Copy Editor of the school newspaper. She has been in the journalism program since her freshman year. Not only has she earned points for being an editor and a staff member, but she won $125 and first place in the LoneStar writing contest which automatically qualified her for a letterman jacket. 

“I was super excited when I learned that I had qualified because I’m not in a lot of other extracurriculars where lettermans are common, like sports or band,” Hansen said. “It felt very validating getting to reap the rewards of my hard work.”

Similar to Hansen, Heist has been in journalism since her freshman year. She earned her letterman jacket by winning first place in the UIL headline writing contest. 

“It feels great to finally get something to show my hard work as a senior,” Heist said.

Finally in sixth period, Koehler was awarded her letterman jacket. She won first place in the Interscholastic League Press Conference for a feature story she wrote as a freshman, which is not an easy task.

“When I received my letterman I was so excited and smiley because it was something I had been waiting to get for months,” Koehler said. 

The journalism teacher, Casi Thedford, surprised all three girls with their letterman during their yearbook or newspaper class. 

Mrs. Thedford was not expecting the letterman jackets to arrive, so when she saw them in her classroom, she knew she was going to have a fun day presenting them to her staffers.

“It was a pleasant surprise to get to honor the girls with such a well deserved gift,” Mrs. Thedford.