High school students can explore public issues and Greek heritage through a new youth journalism award presented at a Greek American gathering in Bethesda, Maryland. Organizers introduced the Youth Advocacy Journalism Award during an October 28 Ohi Day commemoration at the Hellenic Center.
The award focuses on research and reporting. Its themes connect questions facing communities today with the history and heritage that Greek American families pass down across generations.
New Award Puts Student Reporting in Focus
The Youth Advocacy Journalism Award is designed for high school students. It calls for research and journalistic work related to public issues and Hellenic heritage, giving students room to investigate a subject and explain its significance to readers.
That could mean reporting on how a local Greek American organization preserves its records or examining how families share memories of migration and wartime life. A student could use interviews and historical documents to connect those experiences with a broader community story.
Ohi Day Event Highlights Greek American Family History
The award was introduced during a commemoration of Ohi Day. Observed on October 28, the day marks Greece’s refusal to accept an Italian ultimatum in 1940 during World War II.
At the Bethesda gathering, Paul Kotrotsios spoke about his family’s wartime history and the importance of preserving Greek American memories. His remarks brought a family perspective to an anniversary often told through national events and dates.
The two parts of the program shared a focus on how stories reach younger generations. The commemoration made space for family testimony, while the journalism award gives high school students a way to ask their own questions and document what they learn.
