PRINCETON, N.J. — Twelve media teachers have won free subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition through a contest offered by the Dow Jones News Fund and the publishers of the newspaper.

The Classroom Edition, a co-sponsor of the National High School Journalism Teacher Awards program, is also providing subscriptions to the 2012 Teacher of the Year and seven other honored teachers. This is the fourth year of free subscriptions.

Each essay winner will receive copies of The Classroom Edition, a Teacher Guide, unlimited use of WSJclassroom and full subscription access to The Wall Street Journal Online.

Jason Gomez, a graduating senior at York (Pa.) County School of Technology, submitted an essay instead of his teacher Nicki Stiger. In part, he wrote: “…I am a student in the Graphic Arts division of York Tech and we study many different types of typography. Because the school lacks funds for a newspaper subscription, I decided to take matters into my own hands to further our education in both journalism and graphic arts. It would be an honor if I could win this free subscription for my fellow students.”

The winners and excerpts from their winning essays:
Annamarie Warren, Waxahachie (Texas) Global High School: “As the journalism teacher for this new journalism program, it is my desire to carry on the high expectations and standards that our school stands for in STEM classes, into the journalism department. Our school does not have a budget or curriculum for the journalism class. I believe having access to The Wall Street Journal in the classroom, on a regular basis, would open the eyes of my students to the world around them while exemplifying high standards in journalism that is in line with the rest of our school. ”

Juli Stricklan, Rigby (Idaho) High School: “In all fairness to my students, they don’t have a lot of easy access to news. Many of them live in rural homes without high speed internet access. There is one daily newspaper, one weekly paper. . .and an NPR station that only runs news for two hours in the morning and two hours in the late afternoon. It’s not impossible to stay up on the news, but it takes a pretty motivated teenager to regularly seek it out. ”

Karen Ford, Holton (Kan.) High School: “As a teacher at a small, rural school in Kansas, I would love to have my students receive the Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition in order to broaden their world, while enabling them to read quality news writing.  Many students in my classroom understand the concept of economics on a local basis – when summers are dry as ours has been this year, the impact is felt on the family farm and in the main street shops surrounding “The Square,” our local business district.”

Taisha Matthews, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, Astoria, N.Y.: “Balanced. Fair. Insightful. All words I can use to describe the Wall Street Journal. As an English teacher who teaches journalism, I am always looking for materials I can use with my students. The Wall Street Journal allows me the opportunity to teach my students how to write objective news articles.”

Sonya Boyd, Shaw High School, Columbus, Ga.: “In this election year, what could be more timely than The Wall Street Journal? The use of this prestigious publication will enable our journalism teachers to more fully illustrate to our students the importance of the national press. Through the work of the dedicated reporters and columnists of The Wall Street Journal, our students will have access to a very high standard.”

Russell Hill, Coronado High School, Lubbock, Texas: “As a journalism and media teacher, I consider the use of newspapers in my classroom as vital as any textbook or computer. My students deserve the best I can provide them, and providing them with newspapers is one of the best tools I can provide them to engage them in learning and growing.”

Diane Hofsess, Southfield (Mich.) High School: “My students and I publish a tabloid-sized paper and would like to receive your tabloid for design tips, examples of good writing, and increased awareness of current events localized to a teen readership. We have tried to emulate your magazine-like cover with our publication and we study your packaging of stories with sidebars.”

Lynne Moore, Nativity School, Hollywood, Fla.: “I am an English/Media Arts teacher in South Florida and use The Wall Street Journal almost weekly in my classroom.  There is a reason that my students have scored so well on their diagnostic writing tests, and why my young reporters have earned national awards for the past several years–it is because of the quality of the material that WSJ brings to the classroom that we read aloud, discuss, and analyze.”

Nicki Stiger, York (Pa.) High School of Technology: “When I asked my students what was their favorite section of the newspaper, one student said, “Well, I never read the newspaper.” Jason Gomez, a senior in our newly developed class, must have seen the look of sadness and concern on my face. Of 30 students, he was the only one to take the challenge of writing the 250 word persuasive essay. I had him in English as a freshman and he is right, our school really has helped him discover his passions. He has overcome his speech and language disability and improved his writing, spelling and speaking. He is just one example of the type of students I teach.”

Mary Kay Downes, Chantilly (Va.) High School: “I am also the English Department chair and a long-time subscriber to the WSJ at home. I can’t tell you how often I send links to WSJ articles to my 22 member department for enjoyment and information. In my opinion, the WSJ is the best model of what journalism can and should be. Articles are well-researched, balanced and interesting.”

Leslie Bogar, Valor Christian High School, Highlands Ranch, Colo.: “Our school library only has one copy of the Wall Street Journal, which will not work for my classes and I do not want to substitute with our local paper or any other national paper…We need the Wall Street Journal and more than just the one copy our library provides.”

Mark Eaton, T.C. Williams High School, Alexandria, Va.: “I begin almost every class with the question “What is the story behind the story?” to get students to think about the journalistic decisions in any medium. The WSJCE will make this question real and immediate.”