A photo essay created by two FMHS students is gaining national notoriety. The essay, completed by Maria “Elis” Lorga Novack and Marcus Albuquerque was recently published in the New York Times!
English teacher Peg Newell created a unit in her Writing and Discourse Class inspired by the New York Times’ “Where We Are” photo essay contest for high school students.
“I aimed to teach a different genre/style of writing, visual storytelling, as well as the practice of writing with voice and concision through captions,” explained Newell.
Seniors were tasked with documenting a community in 8-10 photographs with captions. Once the unit was complete, Newell encouraged students to enter the NYT contest. In March, an editor from the paper reached out to Elis and Marcus to share they were selected as finalists and their work would be published.
“This is a great honor and a testament to the students’ hard work, talent, and originality,” added Newell.
Elis and Marcus’ photo essay was chosen from over 600 entries as one of the 34 finalists from around the world. The students based their photo essay on the inaugural girls wrestling team here at F-M. You can find more details about the contest, along with all of the winning work, on the New York Times website.