Chicago, March 7, 2002: Opinion articles authored by two high school seniors, Dianne Heitz from Glenbard North High School in Carol Stream and Aracely Gutierrez from Morton East High School in Cicero, have been selected as winners of the 2002 High School Journalism Award presented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. The Awards will be presented in conjunction with the Scholastic Press Association Conference at Roosevelt University in Chicago, an event to be held on Friday, March 8, 2002.



The students were honored for their writings on compelling, topical civil liberties’ issues of concern to students and the general public. Their articles were selected from among a large group of submissions exploring issues involving the application of so-called “zero tolerance” policies in public schools, the need to protect gay and lesbian students in public schools and accessibility to comprehensive sexuality education and reproductive health services in schools.



The awards come with a plaque for recognition and a five hundred dollar prize (generously underwritten by the Playboy Foundation of Chicago). The winning submissions will be published in an upcoming edition of the ACLU’s organizational newsletter, The Illinois Brief.



“We are pleased to recognize Dianna and Aracely for their contributions to the public dialogue about basic constitutional values,” said Damien Joyner, Director for the ACLU of Illinois High School Civil Liberties Project. “Their capacity to think about and articulate clear ideals about complex, sometimes controversial issues is a testament to their intelligence and thoughtfulness, as well as the support they receive from teachers and administrators within their respective schools.”



Information about the 2002 ACLU of Illinois High School Journalism Award Winners and their winning entries appears below.



Dianna Heitz is a senior at Glenbard North High School in Carol Stream. Her submission, titled Ignorance yields harassment, condemning harassment of gay and lesbian students appeared in her school’s newspaper, the Glenbard North Current, on November 2, 2001. Commenting upon the tolerance of physical and verbal harassment directed toward students who are gay or lesbian (or perceived to be gay or lesbian), Ms. Heitz writes that “(e)veryday, thousands of students across the country are harassed. . . . Verbal abuse and physical violence are alive in every high school.”



Aracely Gutierrez is a senior at Morton East High School in Cicero. Her opinion piece, titled It’s time for condoms in the school, endorsed the notion of making reproductive health care widely available at Morton East, appeared in the January 2001 edition of the Mortonian News. Writing of the need to assure access to assure access to reproductive health care services, Ms. Gutierrez concludes that “studies have shown that abstinence programs do not work as well as free condom distribution in preventing teen pregnancy. It’s time to realize that there are more teen pregnancies and STD’s than we think.”



“Many students grasp the importance that constitutional freedoms and basic rights have in their daily lives,” said the ACLU’s Joyner. “Our two award winners represent the growing segment of the youth population committed to assuring basic constitutional values and freedoms.”