Wenatchee High School Journalism Advisor Wins National Recognition

Dave Riggs, Wenatchee High School journalism advisor, was named Distinguished Advisor at the National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year program held in Princeton, New Jersey September 20, 2016.

“[It’s] quite an honor. I am humbled,” Riggs says of his award. “This honor, though, is not just about me. It is about the amazingly talented and dedicated students I have had the honor to serve in my five years here. And it is about the rich tradition in scholastic journalism that we have at Wenatchee High School, a legacy that started with advisers like [Logan] Aimone and many others. Since day one, I have felt it was my simple mission to try to live up to their standards.

Lori Keekley of St. Louis Park (Minnesota) High school was named 2016 National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year. She was selected from among 25 teachers nationally, including Riggs. Riggs worked with Keekly, co-teaching a session at a summer journalism camp at Western Washington University in 2015.  “She was amazing. [It was] truly an honor.”

The awards program is sponsored by the Dow Jones News Fund, Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Poynter Institute for Media Studies and The Wall Street Journal. 

During Riggs’s tenure as Apple Leaf advisor, his Apple Leaf staff won two Pacemaker Awards—the top national award for high school journalism—for overall excellence in 2013 and 2014, and was a national finalist for the Pacemaker in 2015. The Apple Leaf has placed in the top 10 for national Best of Show four straight years. Two of his student journalists have either won or placed second in the national Story of the Year competition — Holly Thorpe, who now works at The Wenatchee World, and Bryce Newberry, who is attending the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and just completed a summer internship at the Today Show in Los Angeles.

“I love working with students who have such an incredible passion for journalism,” says Riggs. “I consider myself the luckiest teacher in the world."