Annika Sisac, a recent graduate of Grand Junction HS, is the 2020 Eric Benson Scholarship winner. This is a one-time $1,000 scholarship funded by Sue and Bruce Benson in honor of their son.

According to selection committee member Sheila Jones, Sisac’s portfolio offered a well-rounded picture of her journalistic self. “What distinguishes Annika’s application from the others is its diversity of stories, themes, media, and moods. She writes about a wide range of topics of high interest to teens, but manages to find something unique in each that engages the reader from beginning to end, even an older reader like myself.”

Regardless of what media she chooses, Jones went on to write, her work is never humdrum. “Her feature stories focus on health and wellness for students from yoga to outdoor adventures, each also with a bit of a twist. Her video of the lacrosse team remaining hopeful while under a quarantine again focuses on the unique ways members of the team continue to train while remaining connected as a team using each player’s phone recorded videos, but she edits them together to masterfully create a unified story.”

Learn more about this award on our website.