The Brodsky Prize 2025
All New Hampshire public, charter, and parochial high school students are eligible for the $5,000 Brodsky Prize that Jeffrey Brodsky hopes will encourage out-of-the-box efforts and innovation by a new generation of student journalists.
APPLICATIONS HAVE CLOSED.
THE Brodsky Prize Award CRITERIA
Who is eligible?
High school students who live in New Hampshire and attend public, charter or parochial schools. Students who live in a neighboring state, but attend a NH School, are also eligible.
Entry criteria:
Judges will consider a student’s journalistic initiative and enterprise, contrarian nature and out-of- the-box thinking, as well as other journalistic attributes such as spelling and grammar, attention-getting lead, fairness and accuracy and whether the entry clearly explains the issue it covers.
Entry requirements:
Please respond to the following questions in essay format (up to 1000 words each):
How will new media technologies change the future of news and information? What role have you played or could you play in that change?
Solutions Journalism means rigorous reporting of responses to problems. How could you apply a Solutions Journalism approach to covering news in your community? (Learn more at https://loebschool.org/solutions-journalism-lab).
Please tell us how you would use The Brodsky Prize award to further your journalistic studies or efforts (up to 200 words).
Please submit three examples of your student journalism work, with at least two examples having been published in a school-run publication, having been used as part of your school’s communications, or printed/broadcast by a local news outlet.
Bold writing
Bold reporting
Bold storytelling
Bold scoops
Innovative design
Innovative promotions
Innovative ways of engaging readers and expanding your audience
SUBMIT HERE
QUESTIONS?
LOEBSCHOOL@LOEBSCHOOL.ORG
WITH SUBJECT LINE: BRODSKY PRIZE
Remembering Jeffrey Brodsky
Jeff Brodsky passed away on July 26, 2023. He was 49 years old. Jeff and his father, Howard, founded The Brodsky Prize for excellence in student journalism. Please take a moment to read about Jeff’s life and to watch this video prepared by his family.
ABOUT JEFFREY BRODSKY
When Jeffrey Brodsky was a student at Manchester’s Central High School nearly 30 years ago, he found his voice as co-editor of Central’s student newspaper, the Little Green. His out-of- the-box thinking as editor brought him headlines beyond the campus and started him on a career in the media. Now, he and his family have established a scholarship program to give back to their community and encourage another generation of journalists.
Photos of Jeff Brodsky at work
2025 Winners of the Brodsky Prize
In celebration of excellence and innovation in student journalism, the prestigious Brodsky Prize has announced its 2025 winners, spotlighting the state's most promising high school journalists.
At left, Kelsey Sweet, a junior at Londonderry High School, received the first-place award earning the $5,000 prize. The judges noted her clear, well-sourced writing showed initiative and journalistic curiosity that stood out in a competitive field, which showcased the future of New Hampshire’s journalistic talent.
“I am truly blessed to be a small part of the mission that Mr. Brodsky and Jeffrey created,” Sweet said. “I will be a senior next year at Londonderry, and my plan is to major in journalism in college. Although I never got a chance to meet Jeffrey, I will continue to read his works and let them inspire me on my own journalism path.”
Josefina Eliessetch, a junior from Kearsarge Regional High School, received second place with a $1,000 award, and Eleanor Rioux, a senior from Manchester Central High School, came in third place and received a $500 award.
Serving as judges were: Howard Brodsky (at left), co-founder of CCA Global Partners; Misbah Tahir, biotechnology finance executive and former Little Green co-editor with Jeffrey; Leah Todd Lin, New Hampshire Public Radio’s vice president for audience strategy; Joseph McQuaid, former Union Leader and NH Sunday News president and publisher, and Susan Geier, executive director of the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications.
Photo by David Lane of the Union Leader
2024 WINNERS
In 2024, Kaylee Mague of Londonderry High School, Class of 2026, has clinched the first-place award, earning a $5,000 prize. Mague's exceptional writing set her apart in a competitive field, showcasing the future of journalistic talent in New Hampshire. Mia Boyd, a senior from Oyster River High School, secured second-place with a $1,000 award. Third place and a $500 award went to Sarah Bufano, a senior from Sanborn Regional High School. Anna Kual, a senior at Manchester Central High School, was honored as a finalist with a $100 award.
Prize continues to nurture the next generation of journalists, it stands as a testament to the enduring value of bold and innovative journalism in shaping the future.
2023 Winners
Co-founder of The Brodsky Prize Howard Brodsky, center, congratulated 2023 First Place winners Samuel Marcotte, left, senior at Coe-Brown Northwood Academy and Aiden Barker, right, senior at Hollis-Brookline High School (photo by Tom Roy, courtesy of the Union Leader).
There were three additional 2023 Brodsky Prize recipients. Second-place winner Michael Blair of Manchester Central High was awarded $1,000. Two finalists received $100 each: Madison Harressey, Pinkerton Academy, and Vick Mahindru, Manchester High School West.
Siera Biddle,
Souhegan High School
2022 Winner of The Brodsky Prize
Souhegan High School Senior Siera Biddle was The First-Place Winner Of The 2022 Brodsky Prize, Recognizing Journalistic Excellence By High School Students.
Including Biddle, there were seven 2022 Brodsky Prize recipients. Second-place winner Emily Bisson of Manchester Central High was awarded $1,000. Third-place winner Samantha Autumn of Pinkerton Academy was awarded $500. Four finalists received $100 each: Matthew Blair, Manchester Central High; Kathryn Craig, Manchester Central High; Rachel Phinney, Pembroke High School and Emily Polsin, Pembroke High School.
Serena Pugh,
Gilford High School
2021 Winner of The Brodsky Prize
Gilford High School senior Serena Pugh was the first place winner of the 2021 Brodsky Prize, recognizing journalistic excellence and “out of the box” thinking by high school journalists. In addition to Pugh, there were an additional four prize recipients in 2021. Finalists in Second Place (tie): Eve Brown-Ryder of Manchester Memorial and Zachary Rioux, of Bishop Guertin, Nashua. Third Place Finalists (tie): Tyler Hughes of Winnacunnet High School, Hampton, and Daisy Macdonald of Hinsdale High School. The total 2021 awards were $10,200, the highest in the Brodsky Prize’s four year history. Judging criteria included a student's journalistic initiative and enterprise, as well as what Brodsky calls "a contrarian nature and out-of-the-box thinking." Since many school newspapers have been challenged by the Covid pandemic, this year’s Brodsky Prize focused on student responses to essay questions, using a Solutions Journalism lens.
Emma Rosenbaum, Bedford High School
2020 Recipient of The Brodsky Prize
Bedford High School senior Emma Rosenbaum was the winner of the 2020 Brodsky Prize, a $5,000 cash award that recognizes journalistic excellence and “out of the box” thinking by high school journalists. Rosenbaum, then 18, was the founder and editor-in-chief of The Runaway Bulldog, an independent, student-run news source for Bedford High School, and alternative outlet to the school newspaper.
2019: CARLEY CRAIN & EAMONN RYAN
Central High School student journalists Eamonn Ryan and Carley Crain are sharing the 2019 Brodsky Prize, a $5,000 cash award that recognizes journalistic excellence and “out of the box” thinking by high school journalists.
2018: MONERICKA SEMERAN
From the New Hampshire Union Leader:
Semeran has been writing for The Little Green newspaper at Central since her freshman year, serving as co-editor in-chief this school year, concentrating on editorials and commentary.
“The Little Green has taught me that opinions have teeth, that facts are meant to be unalterable, and that nothing is as important to development of the self as the development of the Voice,” Semeran wrote in an essay accompanying her Brodsky Prize entry. “Through working for the paper, I have developed principles, learned what it truly means to give your all to something, and I have been lucky enough to witness the fruits of my labor every month when we publish an issue.” She will use her award to support Central’s student newspaper and to help with her college expenses as she attends Vassar College in the fall to study International Relations and write for the college newspaper.
Semeran’s entry consisted of three opinion columns in which she denounced author Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury, one of the first books about the Trump administration’s White House; took on the controversy over NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem; and decried “normalizing” neo-Nazism.
She is donating $1000 of her award to The Little Green, enough to finance two issues in the next school year. Brodsky Prize judges felt Semeran’s work showed she confidently presented strong opinions, backed by research, on a variety of relevant, timely and important issues facing all of us.
Past Awards and The Brodsky Family
Read MORE about The Brodsky Prize and our namesake
