NHS Students Honored At

Fox 61 News Awards

Newtown High School senior Grant Skinner was the big winner at the 10th Annual Fox 61 Student News Awards Ceremony on June 11 at the Pratt and Whitney Air Museum in East Hartford. Newtown students in the statewide competition won three out of seven first place awards in the high school division.

Grant won the $3,000 first place scholarship in the Outstanding Achievement category for his news story on how babies can be taught to communicate with sign language. Newtown resident Mary Chamiec-Case and her daughter, Elizabeth, were featured in the story.

Along with senior Ross Brier and sophomore Rachel Rastelli, Grant also came in first place for the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights Award. The news story was a feature on local businessman Rich Lapati.

The team of juniors – Sudeep Awasthi, Chris Herity and Colby Wheeler, took first place in the Greater Hartford Adoption category. Their story featured a young girl from Vietnam who was adopted by a Newtown family.

Senior Randy Calderone and sophomore Carrie Ogdon received a nomination in the Outstanding Achievement category for their story on the ice sculpture competition at the Chester Winter Carnival. Professional ice sculptor, Bill Coritz of Waterbury, was the subject of the story.

Students in the Video Production II class at Newtown High School, taught by Kerry Hrabstock and Greg O’Loskey, enter the Fox 61 competition each year. The stories are broadcast on Fox 61 at various times throughout the day with the best stories broadcast during the Fox 61 ten o’clock news.