Diamond Bar High School’s journalism students grabbed their pencils and papers on Feb. 28 and headed off to the Eastern Los Angeles Journalism Write-Offs. There, DBHS’ small group of competitors swept the competition and left Schurr High School with dozens of trophies and awards.

The journalists that placed in the top three for their categories were seniors Emily Leung, Katlyn Lee, Joseph Park, and Emily Wong, juniors Frances Wu and Sarah Markiewicz, sophomore Michelle Ki. and freshman Catherine Zhang. A total of 17 Brahmas placed in various categories at the Write-Offs while the school placed first in Novice News and Newspaper Sweepstakes, and second overall in Super Sweepstakes.

Many of the winners went on to compete at Rancho Dominguez Preparatory School in the Southern California Journalism Write-Offs. Ki, Wong, and Lee went on to finish in the top three in this competition. In addition to those who placed in the top three previously, Lilly Ball, Victoria Ly, and Sasha Rivera also received awards.

“I was surprised how well we did, which, some ways, was more enjoyable because I didn’t expect us to do that well,” advisor Doug List said.

The competition for News and Editorial started off with a mock press conference, explaining a controversial situation that occurred at a middle school. Two representatives from the school acted out different sides of the issue and presented their statements to the writers, who were allowed to ask questions following the brief opening statements.

After the interview, competitors in Editorial had to take a stance on the issue and provide their opinions, while News and Novice News writers wrote a factual story in an unbiased manner. The students then had an hour to write or draw.

Meanwhile, the other sections had a different task to accomplish. Feature writers wrote about a woman with a heart condition who started her own candy shop. The woman was there in person to share her story, and the students were allowed to interview her for any further questions. With a similar set up, sports writers wrote about the inequality the principal at Schurr High school felt when playing basketball as a student. Critical Review competitors were shown a 20-minute video about Vietnamese Culture Night and wrote a review on it.

Writing wasn’t the only option to choose at the Write-Offs. Photography students were assigned to take a news or feature photo that portrayed either the write-offs or an event in the surrounding area, and Layout competitors had to design a front cover of a newspaper page with the provided articles and photos.

This has been Diamond Bar’s biggest win since 2009, making the achievement even more special for the Brahmas.

“Our winning at the write offs just reflects how hardworking everyone is,” Editor-in-Chief Katlyn Lee said via Facebook.