The Michigan Interscholastic Press Association has honored Stockbridge High School teacher Elizabeth Cyr with its 2017 Golden Pen Award.
Cyr was honored at MIPA’s Spring Awards event on April 18 in Lansing, along with hundreds of student journalists who won awards in the organization’s statewide scholastic journalism contest.
The Golden Pen is the highest award MIPA bestows on a student media adviser and has been bestowed continuously since 1952. Teachers must be nominated by their students, who assemble an extensive portfolio showcasing the teacher’s involvement in scholastic journalism activities and the impact he or she has had on current and past students.
The recipient is chosen by a committee of previous Golden Pen honorees.
“Elizabeth Cyr is a textbook example of what a high school journalism teacher should be,” said Jeremy Steele, executive director of MIPA and a faculty member in the Michigan State University School of Journalism. “She ensures her students have the knowledge to be skilled writers, strong communicators and informed citizens, and then she gives them the freedom to reach their full potential as journalists.”
Cyr has advised Stockbridge High School’s student newspaper, Uncaged, and yearbook, The Panther, for 18 years. In that time, she has grown the programs into state and national award-winning publications. She also teaches Advanced Placement English and English 11 classes at Stockbridge.
“Alongside the multitude of students that have found their career in Elizabeth’s classroom, she has helped many students find an adoration for writing, photography, design and other concepts,” wrote Uncaged Print Editor Emma Lockhart in her nomination of Cyr. “Students do not come to her class for just a grade, they come because in the class they have a purpose.”
ABOUT THE MICHIGAN INTERSCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION
Founded in 1921 and housed in the Michigan State University School of Journalism, the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association is a nonprofit organization composed of scholastic journalism teachers and publications advisers and their students. MIPA is committed to promoting and recognizing excellence in scholastic journalism at all levels through education, training and support of student journalists and their advisers.