HC History Club receives Jesse Stuart Media Award

By Lauren Pennington and Kennedy Foreman

During the 2016 school year, HC’s History Club published a historical poetry chapbook, “Bluegrass & Beyond – A Journey through Historical Poetry.” This publication was the recipient of this year’s Jesse Stuart Media Award, an accomplishment that was presented to the club by the KY Association of School Librarians. The Jesse Stuart Media Award has recognized and commended contributions to the media in Kentucky for many years. 

The purpose of this award is to promote Kentucky’s history in diverse and meaningful ways. Through the projects submitted to the KY Association of School Librarians, the merit and value of Kentucky history is conveyed. HC’s History Club was able to meet all of these standards, bringing a unique twist to the expression of history. 

“History Club is all about preserving, archiving, and trying to understand history,” HC Librarian Amanda Hurley said, “I really loved the chapbook because it was about historical events that happened in Kentucky that they turned into poetry.” 

Several members of the HC History Club were heavily invested in the completion of the chapbook. These individuals gave a lot of time and effort into layout and creation. Participants throughout HC wrote works of poetry, completed illustrations and contributed to the editing process. 

“For about four years we collected poetry from students,” HC History teacher Chris Snow said, “and then the editing process took about a year and a half, then collecting the illustrations took about six months.” 

All of the hard work and dedication that participants put forward was worth it and valued by much of the public.  

“[The award] means that [participants] were able to do a very adult project so well that it was professionally appreciated,” Snow said. “It meant after four years of fighting to get [the chapbook] made, it was worth all the effort.” 

Much of the editing process was done by two students: Dilni Abeyrathne and Madison Wilkirson. With their contributions to the project, the chapbook was able to go on and win, much to their amazement.  

“I was very surprised to receive this award,” Abeyrathne said. “I did not think that we would win, because there are a lot of great media presentations going around Kentucky.” 

Through their contributions, participants were greatly appreciative of receiving the award. 

“The amount of work that was put into winning the award was the fruit of our efforts,”  Abeyrathne said.