The Eastern Echo’s sports editor, Andrew Mascharka, was awarded one of the Michigan Press Association Foundation’s community journalism scholarships.

Mascharka is from Ann Arbor and a junior at Eastern. The scholarship he received was worth $1,000.

The MPA awards these scholarships to help student journalists with the cost of college and other expenses.

At the Echo, Mascharka has been a multimedia editor and staff photographer and now serves as sports editor. A couple of his recent accomplishments include ESPN using his photo of the practice facility collapse and working on a story about the university’s traveling expenses for the football team’s trip to Louisiana State.

In a press release, Geoff Larcom, executive director of media relations at EMU, a position that regularly interacts with the student paper, said, “Andrew’s talent is evident in the photos he shoots as well as the stories he writes—a double verbal and visual threat so necessary in today’s community journalism. But more important is Andrew’s character, that is, the maturity, accountability, and empathy he displays in his dealings with fellow Echo staff and University faculty members and administration.”

Mascharka, along with the other scholarship winners across the state will be honored at the annual MPA convention Jan. 28 and 29 at the Amway Grand Hotel in Grand Rapids, Mich. Students will attend the event alongside Michigan editors, publishers and directors from MPA news organizations.

“It's an honor to be recognized with an award that represents two things that mean a lot to me—Michigan and journalism,” Mascharka said in a press release. “I wouldn't be where I am today without the guidance that (director of student media) Kevin Devine has given me the past three and a half years, and also the knowledge and perspective that past Echo sports editors Al Willman and Eugene Evans have provided me.”

More information about the Michigan Press Association Foundation can be found at the organization's website.

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