Anna Olson has been named the recipient of the 2025 Eric Benson Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded annually to a student that has worked with any of the CSMA member publications for at least two years. Olson has been a member of the publications staff at Arapahoe for four years, culminating with her position as Editor in Chief of the Arapahoe Herald newspaper program.

In addition to this scholarship, Olson has earned several awards through the CSMA Best of Colorado awards program and was recently named the Colorado Student Media Association Designer of the Year.

Judges of this year’s scholarship entries were impressed with Olson’s portfolio and her advocacy work on behalf of students within her community. The judges feedback stated that her portfolio “demonstrates incredible breadth of experience and expertise in the area of student journalism.  Superior in both design and written reporting, she also offers examples of putting journalism to work to effect positive change, such as in the instance of how staff refer to female athletes in her high school.  She is an advocate for student rights, going up against push-back from school administration, and demonstrates clear understanding of and care for her community–covering the difficult topic of the anniversary of a school shooting with sensitivity.  In addition to breadth, Anna demonstrates the ability to cover topics in great depth, with detailed reporting on issues such as the 2024 election.  Anna is not only a journalist, she is also a teacher and mentor to her fellow student journalists.  I hope Anna will continue into a career of professional journalism; her skills and dedication will offer much to our world.”

You can find more information about the Benson Scholarship here, along with a link to Olson’s portfolio, along with links to many previous winners’ portfolios. The application window for next year’s scholarship will open in March 2026.