It’s been a lively year for the student journalists of Alexandria City High School newspaper Theogony, who were recently named some of the best in the state.
Just months after Theogony staff made national headlines for their enterprising Voices Unbound campaign, the student newspaper was one of five in Virginia to win top-ranking “Trophy Class” honors from the Virginia High School League. Former co-editor James Libresco, who spearheaded the anti-censorship campaign, was also named Virginia’s Student Journalist of the Year.
“We’re not just student journalists — we’re journalists who happen to be students, and you can do great work,” co-editor Rozalia Finkelstein told ALXnow. “I think these awards kind of give some sense to that.”
Several reporters received individual awards for review writing, features and high-profile investigative pieces including an in-depth story on ACHS’s transportation issues that captured first place in the “Straight News” category.
The accolades come as the Alexandria City School Board prepares to vote on amendments to its student publications policy. Introduced Nov. 3 by the board’s Governance Committee, proposed changes include students’ hard-fought reforms, such as removing the principal’s responsibility to approve content before publication.
If amendments are approved, it would be the first time the policy has been amended since 2014.
“It’s been a battle, but I think it’s coming to a close,” Finkelstein said. “I think we’re in a really good place, and I commend the School Board, and I commend everyone at ACHS, or ACPS, for being willing to listen.”
Reflecting on the awards and Voices Unbound, Libresco, now a first-year student at Brown University, emphasized that student journalists provide an essential community service.
He referenced Theogony’s past reporting on local elections, D.C.-area breaking news and accountability pieces within the school district. One of those stories, an investigation into the district’s vote to end K-8 schools, received national designation as “Top Story” of the 2024-2025 school year by School Newspapers Online.
“Student journalists are filling a gap in reporting on what matters, and also as students, we’re not tied into the same systems that adult journalists and adults are,” Libresco said. “We can kind of see things from a different perspective.”
Next week, Theogony will head to Nashville to participate in the annual National High School Journalism Convention from Nov. 13-16. In the meantime, Finkelstein and co-editor Julia Gwin told ALXnow they hope to continue the newspaper’s tradition of thorough community coverage.
“I want to continue to highlight everyone in our school and also outside of our school, you know, and just be a resource for the Alexandria community,” Finkelstein said.
Libresco, who recently published his first byline with the The Brown Daily Herald, said storytelling remains close to his heart.
“It’s something that not only matters so much in the world, but really, it’s just so fun,” Libresco said.
Reporters’ individual VHSL awards and recognition from School Newspapers Online are listed below, per a Theogony news release.
VHSL INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
- In the Straight News category, News Editor Isabel Shultz ‘27 and current co-Editor-in-Chief Julia Gwin ‘26 won first place for their in-depth data analysis of transportation issues in ACHS: Transportation Challenges Ease.
- In the same category, Gwin and Libresco won third place for their article, Five Northern Virginia School Districts Under Federal Investigation for Transgender Policies.
- In the Human Interest/Personality category, Features Editor Nadja Duss ‘26 won second place for her first-person narrative feature of a beloved teacher: Pencils, Paper and Passion.
- In the Review category, current co-Editor-in-Chief Rozalia Finkelstein ‘26 won second place for her review: ‘Wicked’ Defies Gravity and Expectations.
- In the In-depth/Informative category, Libresco, Staff Writer Noah Sternberg ‘25 (who is currently attending Vassar College), and Shultz won second place for their months-long investigation: Inside the Tumultuous Vote to Eliminate Alexandria’s K-8 Schools. Their investigation uncovered that senior Alexandria City Public Schools officials issued misleading statements multiple times leading up to a vote that was ultimately contested in court.
NATIONAL AWARDS
- Also recently, Libresco, Sternberg, and Shultz’s investigation was separately chosen out of more than 15,500 stories as a Top Story of 2024-25 by School Newspapers Online (SNO). It was featured in no particular order alongside 17 other stories from high school and college newsrooms across the country.
- Theogony received 11 national Best of SNO awards in the 2024-25 school year for coverage including ACPS transportation challenges, lead exposure at elementary schools, city budget controversies, and Noah Lyles’ homecoming celebration. The newspaper was named a SNO distinguished site.
