Put it in writing! Leander ISD Career & Technical Education (CTE) Student of the Week Ally JohnPress isn’t just creating headlines, she’s making ‘em!  

At Cedar Park High School, Ally heads up the Wolfpack Newspaper as editor-in-chief. For all four years of high school, Ally has taken part in the journalism program. Of the few in-person students in the program last year, she has really stepped up as a leader in the class. This year, she took over the editor-in-chief position with great success. Not only does she write her own award-winning articles, she also helps edit articles from everyone else on staff. Among other things, Ally keeps the in-depth story tracker up to date, conferences with staff members and basically makes the newspaper class run smoothly. In keeping with her overall excellence, Ally led the staff to earn the School Newspapers Online Distinguished Site status this year. Only 17 other schools in the nation have reached this position at this point in the year. 

Affectionately referred to by her initials, AJP holds our staff to a high standard and will work with students one-on-one to reach their potential. In addition to newspaper, she also participates on the Journalism UIL team. She competes in four events: Newswriting, Feature writing, Headline writing and Copy Editing. In multiple UIL invitationals this spring, she placed either first or second. Overall, AJP helped our journalism team place first at two of the meets. 

“As a leader, Ally exemplifies toughness, yet fairness to the staff,” Cedar Park HS Newspaper Adviser Paiger Hert said. “She knows how far she can push each person to make sure they are turning in their best work. If a student is struggling, Ally is willing to sit down with anyone to help them. Instinctively, she pours on praise for her peers when they write something great and truly celebrates others’ successes. Without her leadership and organizational skills, we would not have been able to reach Distinguished Site status. AJP is one of a kind and I am lucky to have her in Newspaper and on my UIL team.”

For her confidence and demand for excellence, #1LISD CTE Student of the Week Ally JohnPress is a force to be reckoned with! Congratulations!