Kadjata Bah, a senior at Madison East High School, has been doing journalism since she was in fifth grade. Those years of work recently paid off when she was named Journalist of the Year by the Wisconsin Journalism Education Association. The award recognizes high school students for outstanding work in journalism and comes with a $1,000 scholarship courtesy of MPC Endowment Ltd.
Bah was drawn to journalism as a fifth-grade student by the idea of seeing her words in print. She grew to love telling stories about her community and has continued to work in journalism with the Simpson Street Free Press, as both a journalist and an editor for younger students.
While describing what receiving the award means to her, Bah says, "I'm just really excited to be able to share with everyone the excitement that comes with this honor, and I just hope that I can continue my work as a journalist beyond just the title."
As a state winner Bah will also be entered into the National High School Journalist of the Year competition hosted by the National Journalism Education Association. Bah is hoping to continue her work in journalism as she enters college.
She says, "[I'm] also thinking about maybe starting my own publication for people to share their ideas and their perspectives and their skills and talents — just opening up more platforms for people to communicate with one another, like so many of the publications that I've worked with have done for their communities."
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