Jacob Pasternack, the editor-in-chief of The Torch, the student newspaper of Olympic Heights, won first place in the column writing category at the 38th annual Palm Beach Post Excellence in High School Journalism Awards Luncheon held on Thursday, May 3.

Pasternack’s entry into the competition included columns on the negative impact of unqualified students being placed in advanced placement classes, the need for people of opposing viewpoints to actually listen to and learn from one another, and the dangers of the fallacy of the claims of “fake news” by politicians.

The judges in the column writing category noted, “Pasternack’s piece about AP classes at Olympic Heights included significant reporting…and drew some sharp conclusions.”

“Jake does a great job of researching his column topics, and even though column writing is supposed to be opinionated, he makes sure to include opposing viewpoints,” Mr. David Keithley, The Torch‘s faculty adviser, commented. “While the column on the AP classes was not very popular with administration, Jake really busted his hump on that one. I’m happy for him that his hard work was recognized as such by professional journalists.”

Additionally, in its first year as a website only news publication, The Torch earned an honorable mention in the General Excellence – Newspaper Website category.