The Pat Lancaster Prize was founded in 2021 to recognize excellence in the field of school journalism for seniors at Glendale High School. It was named in honor of Mr. Patrick Lancaster, the legendary teacher, coach and athletic director, who retired from GHS in 2020 and had been the Explosion advisor at our school since 1993.
Seniors on the Explosion staff submitted up to three articles for consideration for this year’s award. Their submissions fell under four categories: Features, Opinion, Reviews, and Spotlight.
A panel of GHS teachers then read these submissions, and they ranked them based on the quality of their writing, the clarity of their reporting, and a list of other criteria.
Ultimately, there was a finalist, and two semi-finalists, chosen for each category. Then our teacher panelists, along with our entire Explosion staff, read and ranked the four finalists, leaving us with our winner for the 2nd Annual Lancaster Prize.
Here are the results:
2022 Lancaster Prize Winner
Category: Reviews
2022 Lancaster Prize Finalists
“Honoring the Armenian Genocide with Dignity”
Category: Features
“A COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Is Necessary for Students”
Category: Opinion
“Mr. Gao’s Incredible Journey”
Category: Spotlight
2022 Lancaster Prize Semi-Finalists
“Read Those Nutrition Labels!”
Category: Features
“Introducing the Glendale Performing Arts Center”
Category: Features
“Stop the Hatred Against Asian-Americans”
Category: Opinion
“You Should Go Outside and Touch Some Grass”
Category: Opinion
Category: Reviews
Masters of the Universe: Revelation
Category: Reviews
“Jeta Cooper Johnson Stays Light on Her Feet”
Category: Spotlight
Category: Spotlight
Congratulations to all of our finalists and semi-finalists. We hope that future writers for our news website are inspired by your achievements.
Thank you to all of the teachers who read and ranked our submissions: Soseh Bedrousi, Holly Ciotti, Shannon Clark-Reed, Holly Donohue, Lisa Keefer, Amy Mkrtchian and Sona Postajian.
Thank you to the members of our 2021-22 Explosion staff, who continue to impress me with the quality of the work they produce each school day. I have learned more from them than they could possibly learn from me.
Thank you to Patrick Lancaster, for his continued friendship, support and guidance throughout these past two years.
And a special thank you to retired English teacher and administrator, Patricia Livingston, who is an avid reader and supporter of our news website and was an integral part of this selection process.
Previous Winner of the Lancaster Prize
2021
