Oxford High School senior Davis McCool has been selected High School Journalist of the Year by the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association.

McCool is editor-in-chief of Oxford High’s newspaper, The Charger. He will receive $250 from the Mississippi Press Association at the scholastic press group’s convention March 31 and advance to the Journalism Education Association’s national competition with winners from other states.

“This was an incredibly tough year for our judges,” Scholastic Press Association director R.J. Morgan said. “But I’ve been involved with high school journalism in this state for 10 years, and I’ve seen few if any students with the talent, work ethic and humility of David McCool.

McCool is the grandson of Curtis Wilkie, who was a Boston Globe correspondent from 1975-2000 and currently is an Overby Fellow at the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics and Kelly G. Cook Chair of Journalism at the University of Mississippi.

The Charger’s account of the local school board’s consideration of adding an additional school to the district for low-income students was featured in the national press.

“It quickly resulted in a decision to drop the idea; an instance of the impact of strong journalism,” Wilkie said.


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