Samuel Marcotte, a senior at Coe-Brown Northwood Academy, and Aiden Barker, a Hollis-Brookline senior, are the co-winners of first place honors for the 2023 Brodsky Prize, recognizing journalistic excellence by high school students.

“I vividly remember more than 30 years ago, when my son Jeffrey was co-editor of his school newspaper, and the innovative mind-set and action he showed as top editor of the publication. I look back fondly on the impact the newspaper had on his life at the time. I’m proud that The Brodsky Prize continues Jeff’s passion for journalism,” said Howard Brodsky, Prize cofounder and a member of the judging committee.

Judging criteria for The Brodsky Prize includes a student’s journalistic initiative and enterprise, as well as what Jeffrey Brodsky calls “a contrarian nature and out-of-the-box thinking.” The Brodsky Prize was created five years ago by Jeffrey Brodsky, who was co-editor of his high school newspaper, The Little Green, at Manchester Central High School during the early 1990s. He hopes to encourage “boldness and innovation” by a new generation of student journalists.

Jeffrey Brodsky started The Brodsky Prize in 2018 to honor, encourage and reward high school journalists around the state. In 2015, Columbia University also established the Jeffrey H. Brodsky Oral History Award to honor future generations of journalists and historians in conducting innovative and outstanding research. With this year’s announcement, “We have awarded more than $50,000 to truly outstanding high school and collegiate journalists,” Brodsky said.

Co-winners Marcotte and Barker will use their $2,500 awards to attend college — Marcotte to study economics and journalism at Saint Anselm College, and Barker to study journalism and graphic design at Northeastern University. Both expressed gratitude for the Prize and their enthusiasm for future journalism studies.

There were three additional 2023 Brodsky Prize recipients. Second-place winner Michael Blair of Manchester Central High was awarded $1,000. Two finalists received $100 each: Madison Harressey, Pinkerton Academy, and Vick Mahindru, Manchester High School West.

Jeffrey Brodsky, now 49, received his BA in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis, and his MA in Oral History from Columbia University in New York. He became a historian and documentary producer before illness forced his retirement and return to his hometown of Manchester,.

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