Science Fair Champ, Gay-Rights Activist Win Zimmerman, Club Scholarships

A science fair prize-taker and a gay-rights activist are the winners of the two scholarships the National Press Club awards high school seniors each spring.

Cathryn Walker of San Antonio, Texas, will receive the $5,000 Richard G. Zimmerman Journalism Scholarship, and Mary Susman of Omaha, Nebraska, will take the National Press Club Scholarship for Journalism Diversity, which is up to $10,000 over four years.

Walker has freelanced for the San Antonio Express newspaper and is editor-in-chief of her school's yearbook. She's won first place at her school's science fair, been named all-around champion as a South Carolina gymnast, and been published in the Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans. She volunteers at her school and church, and she's earned a 4.0 GPA.

Susman is on the leadership council of the Gay-Straight Alliance at her school and is a student coordinator and a board member for her city's branch of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, an organization that works to create safe schools for all students. She's editor-in-chief of her school newspaper, and also gets straight As.

Susman's story clips include her school's response to a video in which a student threatened ethnic groups, an oped on immigrant rights, stories on bullying and on a dancer's decision to overcome drug addiction.

"I'm the vehicle through which voices can be heard,' Susman said in her application. ``I must make sure there is no bias, but honesty. With ethical journalism, we can change the world.'