Ledger-Enquirer announces 2021 Page One Award winners and runners-up
For the second straight year, the Ledger-Enquirer didn’t let the coronavirus pandemic keep it from continuing its tradition of celebrating outstanding high school seniors and teachers in the Columbus area.
While COVID-19 restrictions prohibited an in-person gathering, the L-E conducted its 46th annual Page One Awards program online Tuesday night.
This year’s 197 nominees from 18 high schools in the Chattahoochee Valley competed in 13 student categories and one teacher category.
The student categories are art, athletics, career & technology, citizenship, drama, English & literature, foreign language, general scholarship, journalism, math, music, science and social studies.
Columbus State University sponsors the general scholarship category. The journalism category is the Tucker-Wilder Scholarship, named after three former Ledger or Enquirer editors: W.H. Tucker, W.C. Tucker and Bruce Wilder.
The teacher category is the Sara Spano Top Teacher Award, named after the late L-E food editor. She also was a teacher and a Muscogee County School Board member.
The journalism winner receives $1,500, the other winners $1,000, and the runners-up $300. Each winner and each runner-up also receives a trophy and an honor cord.
That amounts to $19,000 and brings the program’s 46-year total to $648,000 in cash awards to teens and teachers displaying excellence in education and community service. Rodney Mahone, Georgia market president of the L-E, called it “an extensive investment in our region’s students and teachers.”
Mahone thanked Piedmont Columbus Regional for its 12th year being the presenting sponsor of the Page One Awards and for the “incredibly brave and inspiring work they are doing every day to support our community during this pandemic.”
Although last year’s ceremony also was conducted only online, this was the first time the judging was done virtually as well. The 41 judges, who are community leaders and experts in their categories, interviewed the nominees via Zoom after reading their applications, which include essay questions and faculty recommendations.
The L-E will honor each nominee and judge in a special section of the April 11 edition.
“When you consider what these young people have already accomplished,” Mahone said, “you can’t help but have the utmost confidence in our future.”
WINNERS AND RUNNERS-UP
Here are the 2021 Page One Award winners, followed by the runners-up, in each category (with their high school in parentheses):
- Art: Phillip Walker (Columbus), Sierra Castaneda (Northside).
- Athletics: Olivia Massengale (Shaw), Marcel Dawson (Pacelli).
- Career & technology: Stephanie Solares (Spencer), Alexsandra Casanova-Chavez (Hardaway).
- Citizenship: Laura Kate Holden (Columbus), Avondrea Singleton (Brookstone).
- Drama: Chloe Webb (Harris County), Ayomide Oloyede (Brookstone).
- English & literature: Nicholas Myers (Columbus), Emilee Fleck (Pacelli).
- Foreign language: Nicole Martinez (Shaw), Enrique Dickerson-Serracin (Pacelli).
- General scholarship: Drew Albright (Brookstone), Caroline Kostuch (Harris County).
- Journalism: Josie Renner (Harris County), Eduardo Ortiz (Central).
- Math: Wataru Aoki (Columbus), Zhaoye “John” Wang (Brookstone).
- Music: Jhamal Kelly (Carver), Kevin Brown (Columbus).
- Science: Emma Gwan-Nulla (Brookstone), Ajay Pathakamuri (Columbus).
- Social studies: Barbara Joy Tillman (Brookstone), Victoria Ashley (Northside).
- Teacher: Mario Nazien (Carver), April Willis (Rainey-McCullers), Malissa Jones (Jordan).
This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 8:00 PM.
