Prince George High School media students listen to Progress-Index reporter Amir Vera talk about how competitive a journalist must be every day. Photo credit: Ronnie Dayvault

PRINCETON, N.J. — The Dow Jones News Fund will award $3,000 in scholarships to five graduating high school seniors who will pursue journalism in college.

The scholarship recipients were selected by the 2014 National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year and four Distinguished Advisers through writing contests organized by the teachers at their high schools in April and May.

The top scholarship recipient is Lindsay Pugh of Prince George (Virginia) High School, where Chris Waugaman, 2014 Teacher of the Year, teaches and advises the award-winning Royal News and trnwired.org. Pugh will receive a $1,000 scholarship to attend The College of William and Mary in Virginia.

Waugaman invited Progress-Index reporter and Prince George alum Amir Vera to detail his journey from Royal News reporter to professional journalist. Pugh covered the presentation for the scholarship competition. Vera is also a former DJNF 2013 editing intern.

Winners of competitions conducted by 2014 Distinguished Advisers will receive $500 scholarships.

Jenna Wilson of Cherry Hill (New Jersey) High School East will attend the University of Notre Dame. She wrote about the culture of journalistic innovation in a competition organized by her adviser Greg Gagliardi. The featured speaker was Aaron Inver, a producer of Fox 29 Weekend in Philadelphia.

Gabriella Monico of Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, California, will attend Harvard University this fall. Her adviser Michelle Balmeo arranged a talk by Robert Salonga, San Jose Mercury News crime and public safety reporter, about the opportunities journalism offers to draw attention to issues not commonly addressed.

Tara Hawkins of Kirkwood (Missouri) High School, is headed to the University of Mississippi. Her adviser is Mitch Eden. Hawkins reported on a speech by Rick Hummel, former president of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner. He covered baseball in his 40-year career. His presentation was the first installment of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kirkwood High School Speaker Series. The Q&A portion of the event was moderated by Bob Rose, Post-Dispatch deputy managing editor.

Hannah Martin of Lafayette High School, Wildwood, Missouri, will attend the Louisiana State University this fall. For the competition, she submitted articles and photography from her work as editor-in-chief for LHS Image and an essay about her career aspirations. Her adviser is Nancy Smith.

Martin wrote, “I believe that to be successful, it is all about the work you put into something that you love and with the passion that I have for journalism, I know I will make great accomplishments in college.”

The Fund wants applicants for its 2015 Teacher of the Year awards. High school journalism teachers and media advisers chosen as Teacher of the Year and Distinguished Advisers will get to select a senior from the 2015-2016 school year to receive a scholarship. The online application must be completed by July 9.