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Article published Apr 23, 2009 Leo student earns journalism honor Lindsey Mohlman's writing after a friend's suicide impressed Sterling Sentinel judges
A close friend of Lindsey Mohlman committed suicide one year ago. As editor of her school newspaper, she set out to write a story that would keep her peers from the same fate.
“That's how we dealt with it,” she said of the article that appeared just one month after his death.
It was a story that impacted many at Leo Junior-Senior High School.
Mohlman, 18, is a senior at Leo and the 2009 Sterling Sentinel journalism scholarship recipient. She is a journalist through and through, and she knew the best way she could help people after a tragedy like this was with her words.
“I felt like it was important to inform people as to the consequences of something so severe,” she said, adding the response to the article was overwhelming. “It was life-changing to know we helped someone so much.”
It was that tenacity and professionalism that earned her a $3,000 scholarship and recognition at Wednesday night's award ceremony at the Embassy Theatre.
“Lindsey knows what she wants to do and has been working long and hard to make her goals a reality,” said News-Sentinel Editor Kerry Hubartt, also one of the judges.
The journalism award was one of 14 scholarships handed out to students through The News-Sentinel program, which is in its 24th year. There were 247 nominees from Allen, DeKalb and Whitley county high schools. A $1,500 scholarship was given to each of the other 13 recipients in the categories of arts, athletics, business, drama, English/literature, foreign language, industrial/vocational, mathematics, music/instrumental, music/voice, science, social studies and speech.
Mohlman has big plans for her journalism career - she is off to Indiana University next year with hopes of living in Chicago or New York some day.
“She's a star. She has always been a star,” said Mohlman's school journalism adviser, Cheryl Ashton. Mohlman has received numerous awards during her high school career, but her parents said the Sterling Sentinel was the one that meant the most to her.
“She set a goal and never looked back,” said Mary Mohlman, Lindsey's mom. “Journalism is truly this girl's passion.”
More than 5,000 students have been recognized by the Sterling Sentinel Awards since they began in 1985.