Technician grant recipients named

In the spring semester, the Technician named Jeniece Jamison and Jessica Neville to be recipients of the Technician Grant.

Jamison is a member of the sports staff and was named the most-improved writer on staff after her first semester. A graduate of Harding University High School in Charlotte, Jamison came highly recommended by Maria Rouphail, a senior lecturer in the English department. “…I can attest to Jeniece’s seriousness, curiosity, attentiveness to her writing, eagerness to excel and dedication to the practice of writing,” Rouphail said.

Neville has been coordinating the paper’s Science & Technology section. “I never could have anticipated the sense of price and satisfaction, leadership development, and personal growth that writing for the Technician would provide me when I was starting school last August,” she said in her application.

Eric Miller, interim head and professor in the Department of Microbiology, said “Her interest level is among the best of our students.… She displays the curiosity and engagement that is critical for success in science.”

Joanna Banegas, a freshman in the transition program, and  Alanna Howard, a freshman in English, have been named as the 2009-2010 recipients of the Technician grant, a $1,000 grant renewable for up to four years given to incoming students on the newspaper staff.

Banegas, a graduate of Wake Forest-Rolesville High School, worked on the student newspaper, the Forest Fire, a paper consistently ranked as one of the top in the state by the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association.

Her high school Spanish teacher, Ersilia Filauro, said, “Joanna is passionate about being a part of the school’s newspaper. She feels that the school newspaper is an important vehicle from which she and the newspaper team are able to convey important issues from both the school and the community to its readers.”

Howard, during high school, worked as a feature writer and columnist for the Fuquay Independent where she created her own column, “Kid to Kid.”

Janet Kangas, editor of the Fuquay Independent, said, “She is an excellent writer and photographer and has grown as a reporter as she has completed a variety of assignments covering a broad range of topics. She is creative and willing to try new things.”

These four join three other current staff members renewing their grants. To maintain their grant, recipients not only have to maintain rigorous and high academic standards, they have to show continual advancement on the staff.

• Lauren Blakely, junior in textile technology
• Tyler Everett, sophomore in First Year College
• David Mabe, sophomore in computer engineering