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April 2022 awards celebration: Alabama poet laureate speaks, contest awards, COA named


More than 40 people attended AMP's 2022 Awards Celebration, held April 13 at The Club in Birmingham. We installed new officers, recognized winners in our professional and high school contests, presented a college scholarship, announced our 2022 Communicator of Achievement (see story above), presented member awards and heard from Alabama Poet Laureate Ashley M. Jones. Thank you to Dick Coffee, outgoing vice president of programs, for pulling the event together so well. Click the collage above or the link here to see photos from the awards celebration. Video of the AMP awards event is available via this link or by clicking the button below. Member Awards We recognized members who reached milestone anniversaries with Alabama Media Professionals and/or the National Federation of Press Women last year or will reach those milestones this year. AMP is an affiliate of the National Federation of Press Women, which offers membership to people of all genders. Members recognized were:

  • Caperton Gillett, 5 years with AMP

  • Herb Patterson, 10 years with AMP

  • Jean McLean, 20 years with AMP

  • Donna Francavilla, 10 years with AMP and NFPW

  • Ann Halpern, 25 years with AMP and NFPW

  • Elaine Hobson Miller, 30 years with AMP and NFPW

  • Jane Newton Falany, 40 years with AMP and NFPW

  • Carolanne Roberts, 45 years with AMP and NFPW

We also presented Member Appreciation Awards to Ann Halpern and Meredith Cummings. Ann not only carries much of our institutional knowledge in her enviably sharp brain but is also incredibly generous in sharing that knowledge. A past president of AMP, she is constantly volunteering her time to assist officers and committee chairs, to serve on committees, to write for our monthly e-newsletter, and to provide AMP news for NFPW publications. Meredith also has done a lot of behind-the-scenes work for AMP for almost a decade. She is a past president of AMP, served as our communications contest director for four years before this year, and has done an amazing job of increasing our membership. She’ll be moving to Pennsylvania later this year to take a job as a journalism instructor at Lehigh University, and we are going to miss her very much. Communication Contest Click here to see a complete list of award winners and their entries in the AMP Professional Communication Contest and our second High School Communication Contest. First-place entries from both the high school contest and professional contest advance to the National Federation of Press Women Communications Contest. Details are below. Scholarship AMP presented a $1,000 college scholarship to Emma Headrick of Sparkman High School. The scholarship is awarded to a graduating Alabama high-school senior whose entry in the AMP High School Communications Contest is judged to be the “best of the best.” In addition, the scholarship recipient must be enrolled in a college or university, plan to major in communications and seek a post-secondary degree or certificate. High School Awards Ceremony NFPW will announce and honor the national high school winners with a Zoom awards ceremony at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 16. You must register in advance via this link for this virtual ceremony. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting on Zoom. The first-place winner in each category will receive a check for $100 from the NFPW Education Fund. At the end of the ceremony, NFPW will announce the winner of the Award of Excellence. That winner will receive a $250 check, and a $250 check will also be mailed to the student's high school communications program. Our high school student honorees are:

  • Olivia Bonder

  • Jayanna Curry

  • Kyla Davidson

  • Emma Headrick

  • Harrison Hollingsworth

  • Bria Howard

  • Olivia Lake

  • Abby Grace Stevens

  • Tess Warren

  • Auburn High School(Tiger TV Staff)

Professional Awards Ceremony The NFPW professional awards ceremony will be at 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 25, as part of the NFPW conference. Here is a link to more information about the conference. And here is where you can register for the conference and the awards ceremony. Our professional members who are in the running for NFPW recognition are:

  • Bob Blalock, Chuck Chandler, Mark Kelley, Michael Sznajderman (group entry)

  • Michael Clay Carey

  • Chuck Chandler, Jay Parker, Donna Cope, Carla Davis, Phil Free, Erin Harney, Mitchell Kilpatrick, Whitney Massey (group entry)

  • Donna Cope

  • Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

  • Meredith Cummings

  • David Gray

  • Isabel Hope

  • Pearl Langley

  • Moriah Mason

  • Misty Mathews

  • Olivia McMurrey

  • Elaine Hobson Miller

  • Michael Sznajderman

  • Tina Tidmore

  • Dennis Washington

  • Ashlee Woods

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