On Wednesday May 20 2026, six Dominion High School Students were nominated for the Loudoun Now Excellence in High school Journalism Awards for the categories Video, Podcasting, Photography, Feature Writing, and News Writing.

Dominion students Stella Marsh and Murren Honea won the video category.

There were a total of 82 nominees from across the county that were celebrated for their excellent Journalism work throughout the school year. Each winner received 500 hundred dollars for their school’s journalism program.

Loudon Now puts these awards together to celebrate high school journalism and raise awareness of the journalism field.” It’s important for us as a non-profit to give back to the community and the best way we can do that is to share our local journalism with students in the high schools to help produce a next generation of reporters,” Chair Bryan Turner said.

“There is a group of panelists that review the submission. They’re teachers and they’re community leaders that will give input and then they vote on [the winners],” Turner said.

In Videography Dominion students Murren Honea and Stella Marsh took home first place for the video “To Stand Or Not To Stand.” “Our video piece was called To Stand or Not To Stand and it was about students, teachers, and administration’s opinions on whether or not they stand for the pledge of allegiance, and why or why not, ” Honea said.

Winning Videographer Stella Marsh said, “When I heard our names I was so surprised I was just so excited.”

“I think Stella and Murren did a fantastic job on what could be a very difficult subject matter. I was really impressed that they weren’t afraid to take on that topic, and then when I saw the finished product I knew that it was in the right hands,” Dominion Journalism Teacher Mitch Schwartz said.

Honea and Marsh emphasized how working together allowed for both of their strengths to  come through in the piece. “Stella and I have very different skill sets. She is definitely better at the technology aspect and the editing … I enjoy interviewing and creating questions and things of that nature,” Honea said.

Grace Armstrong from Potomac Falls was the overall winner of the evening winning in the Feature Writing category for her article “More Than History: The Lessons Kristen Bird Brings to the Classroom“ and in the News Writing category for her piece “Student Voices Rise: New Coalition Fights Censorship in Virginia Schools“. Armstrong also won the grand prize of a summer internship with Loudoun Now.

“I always want to keep building year after year, and challenge students to do that, and with Stella and Murren leading the way I think that’s going to be possible,” Schwartz said.