By Diane Kortus
In last week’s paper, I wrote about the remarkable gains we’ve made in readership at our papers. I shared with you that 80 percent of households in Lutz regularly read or look through the Lutz News. And in Pasco County, 75 percent of households read The Laker with the same loyalty.
It is not surprising, then, that I am writing this week with news about awards my staff has received for outstanding work in a recent statewide newspaper competition. It only makes sense that our excellent readership scores correlate with superior work that is recognized by peers in the newspaper industry.
Earlier this month, Community Papers of Florida honored us with 11 awards for writing, ad design and theme pages. We competed with weekly and monthly publications, many of which have much larger staffs and more resources than we do.
Once again, Stefanie Burlingame, our graphic designer for the past five years, won several awards for outstanding advertising design. She is one of the best ad designers in the state, and I am proud – and fortunate – to have Stef on my team. The accompanying story tells you more about our advertising winners and the local businesses whose ads were recognized.
This was the first year we received an award for writing from Community Papers of Florida. It was especially meaningful that our winner is Jeff Odom, our homegrown, 19-year-old reporter who started writing for us when he was a student at Steinbrenner High in Lutz.
Jeff took third place for Best Original Writing for a piece he wrote about John Naperkowski, a physical education teacher at Chester Taylor Elementary in Zephyrhills who had a heart attack at the school and was resuscitated by a fellow teacher using the school’s automated external defibrillator, or AED.
Ironically, Naperkowski is the reason there was an AED available to save his life in the first place. Fourteen years earlier, he tried to revive a 9-year-old boy at Hudson Elementary who collapsed during Naperkowski’s physical education class. Sadly, the child died.
An investigation concluded that the child might have lived if the school had had an AED to use while waiting for emergency personnel. After this tragedy, the school board decided to install AEDs at all Pasco public schools. Hudson Elementary was the first to get one.
Jeff’s piece was poignant because it told the emotional story of an inspirational man in our community who fought for what was right after a young boy’s unnecessary death. The irony that the technology Naperkowski fought for saved his life 14 years later was not lost on our readers – or the judges.
To read Jeff’s award-winning story, go to lakerlutznews.com/lln/?p=11135
When I congratulated Jeff on his award, his response was endearing. To say he was excited is an understatement.
I had forgotten how I felt when I received my first professional award. Jeff’s exuberance was instantaneous and he was bursting with pride.
He made me remember how joyful it was to be recognized for a job well done when I was first starting out. What fun it was to be doing something I was so passionate about. How blessed I was to have a job I couldn’t wait to get to every day.
This undoubtedly will be the first of many awards that Jeff will earn in his journalism career. He will continue to tell stories about people we are proud to call our friends and neighbors.
Jeff already knows he has a winner when he writes a story about someone you care about – with or without formal recognition from a newspaper contest. That is one of the many attributes of a good journalist, and it’s what drives Jeff to dig deep and find stories you won’t find anywhere else.
There could come a day when Jeff forgets the specifics of the stories that warranted his awards. But he will never forget his first award – the one he earned while working as a reporter at The Laker and Lutz News.
It makes me proud that this young man’s legacy started right here, writing important stories about everyday people who make a difference.
At this newspaper, I’m proud to say, he makes a difference as well.
