Emmaus High School students Rylan Bassett, Kathleen Taranto and Stefania Schoen recently were recognized by school faculty for their work in journalism and the community.

“I am very excited and honored to have received this award,” Schoen replied in an email interview June 5.

Schoen received the Richard F. Gaal Memorial scholarship, an award honoring a longtime photographer for the East Penn Press, now one of the Lehigh Valley Press newspapers and formerly the Emmaus Free Press. Gaal died in 1995.

Gaal also was active in the Emmaus community.

Schoen’s community work includes volunteer endeavors with BroadwayCares/Equity Fights AIDS, Autism Speaks, Angel 34, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, St. Baldrick’s and the JCC Krakow, a Jewish Community Center in Krakow, Poland, working to rebuild and support Jewish life in Eastern Europe.

“I have loved devoting my time and energy to various causes throughout my high school career and my entire life,” Schoen said by email. “I plan to continue serving those around me and helping others throughout my college career and for the rest of my life.”

The EHS faculty recognized Bassett and Taranto each with the school’s Journalism Award.

“I enrolled in the Journalism 1 course freshman year,” Bassett replied in an email interview. Bassett finished his high school career as editor-in-chief of The Stinger, the EHS school newspaper. He also worked as the assistant culture editor and culture editor for The Stinger.

“I think, more than by my individual stories, I have been defined by my leadership as an editor. How I mentored new staff members, helped reporters navigate tenuous stories and handled difficult situations have defined my time as a student journalist,” Bassett continued.

Taranto joined The Stinger staff in 2017 and completed her high school career as the newspaper’s managing editor.

In 11th grade Taranto worked on a story about sex trafficking and advocacy in the Lehigh Valley.

“That story definitely opened my eyes to in-depth reporting and the importance of doing your research. As a high schooler, it was an impactful experience that I’ll take with me. It showed me that young people have the power to investigate their community and shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions to the people around them, even if it’s an uncomfortable situation,” Taranto said in an email interview.

Schoen, Bassett and Taranto each plan to continue their work on college campuses.

Schoen will attend Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., where she hopes to continue work with many of the service projects she gave her time to in high school.

Bassett plans to study journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park, with a career goal “in conflict correspondence and photography.”

Taranto will attend the University of Missouri to study journalism and political science and plans to continue involvement with student publications, writing “there are a lot of opportunities at Missouri for just that.”

The Richard F. Gaal memorial scholarship and Emmaus High School Journalism Award are sponsored by The Times News LLC, parent company of The Lehigh Valley Press.