The Dow Jones News Fund has named a St. Louis Park High School teacher the National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year.
Lori Keekley, an English teacher and media adviser, won the 2016 prize out of 25 other teachers. Keekley has spent 15 years overseeing the Echo, the school's student newspaper and website.
Under her guidance, students have reported on variety stories from a Ku Klux Klan counter demonstration to an HIV positive student.
"I am humbled and honored to represent media advisers," Keekley said in a news release. "It's an opportunity to showcase the ways media advisers empower students to create great work and to show the difference they make in their schools and communities. "
The student news outlet has also received numerous awards under Keekley including the First Amendment Press Freedom Award.
Keekley will receive a plaque and laptop computer for her class at the Journalism Education Association and National Scholastic Press Association convention on Nov. 12 in Indianapolis. Her award even comes with a $1,000 scholarship for a senior student at the high school. Through her award, Keekley will have access to webinars at the Poynter Institute.
"Lori Keekley has done all the right things to distinguish herself as a media adviser and teacher," Linda Shockley, Dow Jones News Fund managing director, said in a release. "She shines through her work with her students and in service to the broader profession."
