Student media adviser Tom Hayes was named the 2026 Educator of the Year by Youth Journalism International during its awards presentation Saturday. His award was one of nine awards won by Ben Davis student media programs.

Hayes has taught at Ben Davis for 20 years and two years at New Castle. He covered central Indiana sports for 20 years prior to becoming a teacher.

The judges said this about Hayes “For more than two decades, Tom Hayes has guided a terrific journalism program at Indianapolis’ Ben Davis High School. He is a former award-winning sports editor who proved an even better teacher. His passion for responsible journalism has shaped the lives of scores of students who have discovered a passion for writing, photography, editing and more. We’re thrilled to offer our thanks to him for his contributions.”

Senior Lucas Allison earned first place in review writing and also an honorable mention in photo essay for a pictorial on “BD Reconstruction.” He won first in revierw for reviews on “Welcome to America” and “One Battle after Another is one of year’s best films.”

“Lucas tackled two important films with an intelligence worthy of both. He astutely walks the reader through the plotting, themes, performances, cinematography, and contexts of the 2025 Best Picture-nominee The Brutalist and the Best Picture-winning One Battle After Another. Lucas is clearly drawn to worthy subject matter and approaches it with deserving thoughtfulness,” the judges said.

The Spotlight staff took second place in team enterprise reporting for “The Gift of Giving.”

Judges said “News about positive action is inspiring to people, and this team effort offered loads of inspiration! We appreciated how comprehensive the report was, as it outlined many efforts in many different areas. Most importantly, it offered many ways for readers to get involved themselves. The potential ripple effects of this kind of reporting are so important to the local community and could have an impact for years to come.”

Other winners were (followed by judges comments):

Grisell Salinas (BDTV) — honorable mention in multimedia news reporting

“Griselle’s two reports show that she has a bright future in TV reporting. She has taken on two interesting news stories and found ways to illustrate them well. With her police interview she had great access to a really credible voice. Her own voice is clear and confident and she looks very smart on screen.”

Malorie Voris, Souleyman China and April Rosales — second place for travel writing by a team for “Fall Break Travels”

“We enjoyed the mix of perspectives and were impressed by the design/layout of the story as well.”

Manon Boulanger — honorable mention in first person essay for “My year in America”

“We love the consistently authentic voice that this author employs in this piece. We can feel the growing pains she felt while learning about a new culture as if we experienced it ourselves.”

Brylee Beauchamp — honorable mention in feature photography for “Elf”

Cris Castanda — second place in sports photography for “soccer fun”

“Cris has excellent timing to capture the right moment of celebration. Tough to pick between first and second.”

Lucas Allison — honorable mention in photo essay for “BD Reconstruction.”

“Beautiful images.”