Erica Green, The New York Times

How the Nation’s Troubles Affected Education

• The students returned, but the fallout from a long disruption remained
• Black Lives Matter, she wrote. Then ‘Everything just imploded.’
• Missing in school reopening plans: Black families’ trust
• A college program for disadvantaged teens could shake up elite admissions
• Surge of student suicides pushes Las Vegas schools to reopen

About the Winner

Erica Green wrote many impactful stories. She captured the toll on mental health the coronavirus pandemic was taking on America’s youth when reporting on suicides in Las Vegas schools. And as part of a team reporting project, Green detailed how decades of miscommunication, crumbling infrastructure and awful services had broken the bond between Black families and their local school systems, among other stories.

Comments from the Judges:

“The stories included in this submission show a breadth of extremely well-written education stories. The story about Liberty High School laid out a very bleak situation in visceral detail. I’ve seen a lot of reporting about how the pandemic has put stress on schools, but this story did a great job of ’show don’t tell’ with anecdotes from people in the school, and descriptive, scene-setting writing.”

“The story about Queen Anne County schools was well sourced and riveting. In sum, I think Green’s reporting did what national outlets often fail to do well, which is cover a community with thoughtfulness and attention to detail.”

“Comprehensive, varied, nuanced pieces, with unforgettable characters that lay out plainly COVID’s impact on students, teachers, administrators.”