Page One journalism, teacher winners experience honor in unusual ways amid coronavirus
They are considered the most prestigious of the 14 categories during the Ledger-Enquirer’s Page One Awards ceremony.
So although Tuesday night’s 45th edition of this annual event was unlike any other, because stay-at-home restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic forced this year’s program to be only online, the order of the awards remained the same as the L-E continued to honor outstanding high school seniors and teachers in the Columbus area.
That meant, in a recorded video released on ledger-enquirer.com, the first winner announced was John Cobis of Northside High School for the Sara Spano Top Teacher Award, and the last winner announced was Cindy Peng of Brookstone for the Tucker-Wilder Journalism Award.
Marquise Jones of Shaw is the runner-up in the journalism category. Tomacia Johnson of Spencer and Amittia Smith of Jordan are the runners-up in the teacher category.
In addition to a trophy, the student and teacher winners receive $1,000, except in the journalism category. That winner receives $1,500 for the Tucker-Wilder Journalism Award, named after three former Ledger or Enquirer editors: W.H. Tucker, W.C. Tucker and Bruce Wilder.
The student and teacher runners-up receive $300 along with a trophy.
The Sara Spano Top Teacher Award is named after the late L-E food editor who retired in 1985. She also was a teacher and a Muscogee County School Board member.
Journalism winner
Cindy, the editor of Brookstone’s newspaper, got the news about winning the Page One journalism award via a different electronic medium.
She wanted to click on the video when it was released at 7 p.m., but she fell asleep in her bedroom and didn’t start watching the 75-minute ceremony until a half hour later. When she woke up, about two dozen text messages with congratulations from friends were waiting on her phone.
“I kind of realized I got it then,” she said. “So when I was watching the video, I wasn’t too surprised. But when I first saw those messages, I was like, ‘That can’t be real.’”
Not having a real ceremony, complete with being in the spotlight on stage in front of an applauding crowd, “wasn’t very disappointing,” Cindy said. “I know my ability has been approved and recognized. … I hope to pursue journalism in college and also in the future, so this definitely is a great encouragement for me to continue.”
Cindy plans to attend Wellesley College and major in international relations and sociology. Her career goal is to be a journalist who tells the stories of people too often ignored.
“There should be humanity in politics or policy, but there should be rationality in humanity as well,” she said. “So that’s something I hope to present. … I really hope one day I can make a change and just make more voices be heard.”
Her motivation comes from growing up in China, where the communist government doesn’t allow freedom of the press.
“I saw all those people daring to talk and speaking out for their opinions,” she said. “… That made me realize I want the opportunity to express myself and also inform the public.”
Cindy already has had multiple experiences related to international journalism. She interned with China Southern Airlines Magazine, did field research in Kenya, traveled to Jordan and Israel with The New York Times Student Journey and participated in the Stanford Summer Humanities Institute.
She is founder and manager of the Instagram social activism platform Asianfemmme, which promotes gender and racial equality.
The Page One journalism category judges wrote this about Cindy: “She has a forceful passion for telling stories about minority communities around the globe and uses their own experiences as a lens for readers to learn more about society. She’s used her incredible experiences to grow more connected to her community and express ideas more freely.”
Cindy, 19, came to Columbus when she was 14, staying with host parents Karla and Doug Tompson. She chose Brookstone among several American high schools that accepted her because of its “sense of community and the people,” she said. “It’s just really nice to interact with the people here. They’re welcoming and warm and having great personalities.”
She celebrated her award with fellow nominees from Brookstone and some of their teachers during a videoconference Tuesday night. Then she connected via FaceTime with her parents back in Guangzhou, China.
“I guess it’s a family thing that we aren’t quite reactive to things,” she said. “But still, I could see they were excited. … They told me they were glad I am using my interest to do something meaningful in my third language. At some point, my mother was joking, ‘So you actually know English.’”
Teacher winner
Cobis teaches AP English Language and AP English Literature at Northside, where he chairs the English department and is a member of the school’s leadership and improvement teams.
He said he is humbled by the award. He praised the Northside administration, faculty and students for doing their part to create an atmosphere where he has enjoyed teaching for 16 years.
“It’s a fantastic school,” he said. “There’s just a legion of teachers worthy of this award. … I’m just very blessed.”
A combination of a water leak at his home and COVID-19 concerns resulted in Cobis watching the ceremony by himself on his laptop in the basement of a relative’s Columbus home. Contact with a niece who was diagnosed with the coronavirus has his family isolating themselves until they also are tested and get their results, Cobis said.
“So I’ve been sort of cyber-celebrating,” he said.
Cobis would have liked to receive the award on stage at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, but he appreciates the text messages and emails from family, colleagues and current and former students.
“I am really grateful,” he said.
Cobis is a familiar name to those who follow local awards for teachers. In 2016, he was among the 10 semifinalists for Teacher of the Year in the Muscogee County School District. In 2017, he was among the nine Harvard Fellows selected by the Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation. He twice has been named a STAR Teacher by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in English education from Columbus State University, a master’s degree in educational administration from Trinity College, a specialist’s degree in leadership from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in theological studies from Spring Hill College.
“It’s clear that John is an exceptional teacher; respected and much loved by his students and his colleagues,” the judges wrote.
In his recommendation, Northside principal Marty Richburg wrote about Cobis, “His students understand where his bar of excellence resides, and they work extremely hard to get to that level of expertise. It is a struggle for most students, and the struggle is what causes most students to love him and his class forever. He makes Northside a better school by his presence, attitude and ability to reach our students.”
This honor has come during the last of his 40 years as an educator, making it a capstone to his career, Cobis said. In retirement, he plans to spend more time ministering to prisoners and hiking trails.
After three years (1997-2000) as principal at Pacelli, from where he graduated in 1976, Cobis left Columbus to help start Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School in Fayetteville, Ga.
He returned to Columbus four years later to tend to his ailing father and return to teaching.
“I think that’s my true calling,” he said. “I just really enjoy trying to help students, not just in their subject area but hopefully in just kind of growing as people.”
Cobis called teaching sacred work.
“It’s old-fashioned, but we’re really helping shape kids’ character,” he said. “Teaching them to struggle. Teaching them humility. Teaching them to take correction. Teaching them to converse with one another with civility and generosity. Teaching them to listen. There are so many lessons for life that they can get. … Good teachers realize the example they set is really more important than even the subject area.”
WINNERS AND RUNNERS-UP
The 2020 Page One Award winners, followed by the runners-up, in each category (with their high school in parentheses):
- Art: Rebecca Tabor (Columbus), Vinh Huynh (Spencer).
- Athletics: Raytrevius “Tre” Peterson (Columbus), Jordine Moody (Shaw).
- Career and technology: Jaekyung Kang (Columbus), Justin Hopf (Brookstone).
- Citizenship: Chequoreona Arnold (Jordan), Charles Gilliam (Brookstone).
- Drama: Sean Myers (Brookstone), Sabrena Lewandowski (Hardaway).
- English and literature: Ana Chavez-Almanza (Spencer), Ciera Walker (Hardaway).
- Foreign language: Kevin Guernsey (Columbus), Keegan Shaughnessy (Smiths Station).
- General scholarship: Jack Hester (Columbus), Olivia Hamilton (Shaw).
- Journalism: Cindy Peng (Brookstone), Marquise Jones (Shaw).
- Mathematics: Manav Shah (Brookstone), Aryaman Singh (Columbus).
- Music: Sierra Reis (Columbus), Kaleigh Griswell (Harris County).
- Science: Elizabeth Sigman (Brookstone), Diana Tejera-Berrios (Jordan).
- Social studies: Joy Hood (Shaw), Nora Klein (Harris County).
- Top teacher: John Cobis (Northside), Tomacia Johnson (Spencer), Amittia Smith (Jordan).
This story was originally published April 22, 2020 at 3:22 PM.
