The 2016 SPOT 127 Celebration Dinner was a special evening that brought together SPOT students, their families and supporters from the community to highlight the program's successes this year and to honor three Korva Coleman Excellence Awards winners for their outstanding work in digital media.

NPR Newscaster and SPOT 127 advocate Korva Coleman presented this year's awards to three exceptional young women:

Online Print Winner
Aili David, Mira Costa High School Senior

Aili is an avid blogger and manages the social media accounts for her high school broadcast journalism program. Aili has a passion for filming, editing and writing for news. She plans to pursue a career in journalism and looks forward to utilizing her skills to tell the untold stories of people around the world through different means of communication.

Read Aili's winning piece: "Kawa Chan Gives Back to Tsunami-Stricken Community Through Passion for Cooking"

Audio Winner
Angela Nguyen, Washington State University Sophomore

During the summer of 2014 Angela participated in KUOW’s Radioactive Youth Media program producing feature stories and podcasts. Angela was one of three undergraduate students selected to participate in the Next Generation Radio project,a digital-first, multimedia journalism and professional development project for students focused on journalism and broadcast media.  At this time Angela attends the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University where she is majoring in Journalism & Media Production, as well as Digital Technology & Culture.

Listen to Angela's winning piece:  "Overcoming Hurdles to be First in His Family to Go to College" 

Video Winner
Katie Antonsson, University of Southern California Graduate Student

Katie was born and raised in Los Angeles. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2015 with a degree in English and art history. While living in Pennsylvania, she managed Rock on Philly, a website dedicated to the Philadelphia music scene. Katie currently attends USC Annenberg, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in specialized journalism and the arts. She also serves as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's embedded journalist and loves to write about art, music, and culture, particularly where they intersect with academia and critical thought.

Watch Katie's winning piece: "Camping on Cement"

Carl Matthusen Youth Leadership Award
Efrain Hernandez, Bioscience High School (Phoenix) Senior

Student intern Efrain Hernandez was awarded the second annual Carl Matthusen Youth Leadership Award, which is given to a SPOT 127 student who has demonstrated exemplary leadership skills. Efrain is an exceptional young man who has produced a number of multimedia pieces during his time in SPOT 127, including multimedia packages for the Avnet Tech Games Challenge and several photo and video pieces for a peer-to-peer human trafficking awareness campaign funded by the Hickey Family Foundation. Efrain's creativity, dedication and hard work are an inspiration.