Producers of Broadway's The Prom will sponsor the first "Theatre Is Education" Excellence in Student Journalism Award at the 2019 Roger Rees Awards.

All 11th and 12th grade students attending a high school in the five boroughs or Westchester, Nassau, Orange, Rockland, or Suffolk counties during the 2018–2019 academic year are eligible for the honor.

Students wishing to be considered are invited to submit a 500-word story or produce a 2–3 minute news piece on the theme "Courage in Leadership." Submissions should highlight a school principal, teacher, administrator, or fellow student who has shown courage by promoting inclusiveness within their school or community. To enter, students should submit their piece, along with their name, school, grade, and email address to Katie Wingler at [email protected]. Entrants are also encouraged to post their story to Instagram using the hashtags #CourageinLeadershipNews, #ThePromMusical, and #RogerReesAwards.

Winners will be selected by a panel of judges led by The Prom lead producer Dori Berinstein and made up of theatre journalists and industry professionals. Entries will be judged based on their originality, the author's voice, command of language, integration of quotes from any interview sources, and the overall impact of the piece to inform and inspire its audience.

The musical is an appropriate partner for the cause, as it follows a high schooler's fight for inclusivity when she wants to bring her girlfriend to the prom, prompting a media outcry and the arrival of social justice-bent Broadway divas.

The winner of the award, who will be notified on or before April 22, will be invited to co-host the Roger Reed Awards Facebook Live pre-show May 12. If eligible, they can also go on to compete against student reporters nationwide to be named one of the "official" student journalists covering the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, also known as The Jimmy Awards.

The Roger Rees Awards is the New York Metro Area student award program that recognizes distinction in student performance and outstanding achievement in high school musical theatre. It serves as the Greater New York Regional Award program of The Broadway League Foundation’s Jimmy Awards. Notable past winners have included 2015 Best Actress Marla Louissaint, who recently appeared in the national tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; and 2018 Best Actor Andrew Barth Feldman, now starring as the title role in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway.

For more information on the Roger Rees Awards, click here.