AHS senior named journalist of the year

    Senior Paul Mathis was named as the Virginia Journalism Education Association’s High School Journalist of the Year. Mathis is now in the running for the National JEA Journalist of the Year Scholarship, in which the top winner will win a $5,000 scholarship and runner-ups are awarded $2,000 scholarships.
   
    “Of the approximately 1,200 seniors I have taught in the last 14 years, Paul undeniably ranks in the top five students I haven encountered in my career,” said The A-Blast adviser Alan Weintraut.
   
    To qualify for the Virginia JEA award, Mathis had to maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0, be enrolled in a journalism class for at least two years and create a portfolio of all the work that he produced in The A-Blast.
   
    Mathis, affectionately known as “Paullie,” is known among his staff members for his perfectionist style, excellent journalistic practices and hardwork. “Paul is a proficient storyteller who has mastered technology in the fashion of a professional journalist,” said Weintraut. “He revels in the exchange of ideas, and his creative and energetic presence is a driving force for the student newspaper and film programs.”
   
    Mathis is currently the Co-Editor in Chief of The A-Blast, but he has also served as a staff writer and the In-Depth page editor. Mathis averages at the very least two stories every issue, including his regular book review in which he critiques subjects ranging from modern poetry, to classics, to mysteries, to relationship self-help books.
   
    “Paul is our staff's most prodigious writer,” said Weintraut. “He has twice won the "Most Copy" award given at the end of the year, amassing 40-50 bylines, an equivalent of 20,000-30,000 words per year.”
   
    Mathis is the ninth AHS senior to win the Virginia High School Journalist of the Year Award in the past 13 years. Two of those nine seniors qualified as runner-ups in the national competition, Chris Sopher in 2006 and Paul Gleason in 2004.
   
    The national winners and runner-ups will be announced at the journalism convention that will be held in Anaheim, California in April.