Natalie Renee Wilson Leadership Award
Namesake: Natalie Renee Wilson
Natalie Wilson served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the ODYSSEY during its first year of publication. She has a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Howard University and a master’s in communication from Johns Hopkins University. Wilson has more than 15 years of journalism experience covering news in Washington, D.C.; Prince George’s County, Md.; Charlottesville, Va. and North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad. She currently anchors the FOX 8 WGHP 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. newscasts weekdays and is the reporter and producer of “Good for Her!,” a series that highlights the women who are making waves in the Piedmont Triad. Wilson’s work has been recognized by the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, the National Black Programming Consortium, the White House Correspondents’ Association, the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Nashville/Midsouth Chapter in which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards. In 2019, Black Business Ink named her one of the 40 Under 40 Most Influential African Americans in the Triad.
Criteria: ODYSSEY adviser David Ragsdale confers this award to the ODYSSEY student who has shown leadership, perseverance and grace under fire during the school year. The award is meant to celebrate the leadership, integrity and commitment to colleagues of its namesake, Natalie Wilson. This award was established in 2005.
Alexander Maxwell Stephens Commitment to Excellence Award
Namesake: Alexander Maxwell Stephens
Alexander Stephens served as Sports Editor and Copy Editor for the ODYSSEY during its second year of publication. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a Morehead-Cain Scholarship. After graduating with a degree in Latin American Studies, he worked as Associate Director at the Marian Cheek Jackson Center, an organization dedicated to preserving the future of historically Black neighborhoods in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC. Alexander is currently completing a doctorate in History at the University of Michigan, where he studies race, poverty, policing, migration, and law in the Americas. Since his time on the ODYSSEY staff, he has remained committed to community-engaged and public-facing work, including as co-founder of the Athens Oral History Project at the University of Georgia, as co-producer of the six-part podcast series, Hot Corner, and in roles with the Immigrant Justice Lab and Carceral State Project at the University of Michigan. His writing and a udio work been featured by the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, and North Carolina Public Radio among other outlets. Alexander Stephens
Criteria: ODYSSEY adviser David Ragsdale confers this award to the ODYSSEY student who has demonstrated a commitment to excellence in all endeavors under the ODYSSEY nameplate during the school year. The award is meant to celebrate the drive for excellence, the pioneering spirit, and the commitment to the collaboration of its namesake, Alexander Maxwell Stephens. This award was established in 2008.
Steve L. Hinsch Extra Mile Award
Namesake: Steve Lincoln Hinsch
Steve Hinsch was born raised in Oak Cliff, Texas (southern Dallas area, inside the loop. He and his wife Hollis have been married since 1982 and are the parent of Chrismon L. Hinsch, who served on the ODYSSEY staff proudly for two years and is the father-in-law of Hannah McFay, who served on the ODYSSEY staff for two years. As an ODYSSEY Booster Club member and even after his son graduated in 2008, Hinsch volunteered at UGA football games, chaperoned out-of-state field trips, worked to connect with staff members and helped lighten the load of all with whom he worked. Hinsch retired in 2021 and is a proud grandparent to two young women, one of whom is a CCHS student.
Criteria: ODYSSEY adviser David Ragsdale confers this award to members of the ODYSSEY/iliad community who go above and beyond the call of duty to go the extra mile for the program. This award was established in 2010.
John H. Wells-Chrismon Hinsch Team Spirit Award
Namesakes: John H. Wells, Chrismon Hinsch
John H. Wells served on the ODYSSEY staff as a photographer during the program’s first two years. Since graduating from Clarke Central High School in 2005, Wells has been employed in the Athens service community in management positions at various eateries and public houses.
Chrismon Hinsch served on the ODYSSEY staff from 2006-2008 as a photographer. Since high school, Hinsch has worked in retail sales, as well as in training roles within the world of combat sports. He’s been a vital member of the Athens craft beer scene since 2014 and is engaged in management locally. Hinsch’s partner, Hannah, also served on the ODYSSEY staff. They have two children.
Criteria: John H. Wells-Chrismon Hinsch Team Spirit Award – awarded to the staffer who most embodies programmatic values and good citizenship. The ODYSSEY staff selects one student each year by vote and the Journalism I class selects one student each year by vote. ODYSSEY adviser David Ragsdale reserves the right to confer the award to those who especially embody the values of the award’s namesakes. First awarded in 2006, renamed in 2009 to reflect the programmatic contributions of Hinsch. The Journalism I Wells-Hinsch award was established in 2018.
Aaron Patrick Holmes Most Valuable Player Award
Namesake: Aaron Patrick Holmes
Aaron Holmes joined ODYSSEY as a second-semester freshman and served on the News staff. He later served as the News Editor before serving as ODYSSEY’s Senior Copy Editor from 2014-15. He later received his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, where he served as news editor and then managing editor of the Columbia Daily Spectator, the school’s independent student newspaper. He is now based in New York City and works as a reporter at The Information, a business news outlet, covering the tech industry. Before that, he has previously written for Business Insider, The New York Daily News, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Tampa Bay Times, and has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS Los Angeles, Cheddar, and SiriusXM Radio to discuss his work.
Criteria: The Aaron Patrick Holmes Most Valuable Player Award is voted on by staff and awarded to the staffer without whom all would have been lost through their consistent quality work, willingness to contribute their talents to staff initiatives, and positive outlook. This award was established in 2008 and renamed in 2016.
Alexander Robinson-Andrew Robinson Facilitator of the Year Award
Namesakes: Alexander Farooq Howard Robinson, Andrew Gregory Robinson
Alexander Robinson served as the ODYSSEY’s News Editor from 2018-19 and as its Sports Editor and Journalism I Facilitator from 2019-20. He later received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the George Washington University, where he worked as a legislative intern on Capitol Hill for Senators Jon Ossoff and John Hickenlooper. He also worked as press intern for Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. He plans to attend the University of Cambridge in the fall 2024 to pursue a master’s degree in Anthropocene Studies and hopes to pursue a career in government.
Andrew Robinson served as a Sports and Variety Staffer for ODYSSEY from 2019-2020 and as a Journalism I Facilitator from 2020-2021. He is currently a rising senior at Harvard University, concentrating in Economics on the honors track. Andrew served as vice president of the Harvard College Debating Union and has worked as a research assistant at Harvard Business School and the Khazanah Research Institute in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is now an economic analyst at Charles River Economic Labs and hopes to pursue future opportunities in economic research.
Criteria: Faciltator of the Year is voted by the Journalism I class and awarded to the facilitator who most successfully guided their students, planned/executed lessons, and engaged J1 students in their ODYSSEY experience. This award was established in 2018 and renamed for the Brothers Robinson in 2024.
Rookie of the Fall, Rookie of the Spring, Rookie of the Year
Criteria: Rookie of the Fall, Spring and Year are voted by the staff to commend the first-year production staffer who joined fall/spring term who has had the biggest programmatic impact during the semester. Rookie of the Year is a follow up vote between fall and spring winners. This award was established in 2005.
Editor’s Choice Award
Criteria: The Editor’s Choice award is conferred each year by the respeticve EIC of the iliad, ODYSSEY Newsmagazine and ODYSSEY Media Group to a staff member who made the biggest impact in the eyes of that EIC. This award was established in 2006.
Editor of the Year Award
Criteria: Editor of the Year is voted by the staff and awarded to the editor who most successfully guided their staffers, planned/executed coverage, and produced quality writing. This award was established in 2008.
Visual Artist of the Year Award
Criteria: Visual Artist of the Year is voted on by the ODYSSEY staff to recognize the staffer who demonstrated excellence in creating visual content for our various platforms – broadcast, print, social media, and online. This award was established in 2012.
Writer of the Year Award
Criteria: Writer of the Year is voted on by the ODYSSEY staff to recognize the staffer who demonstrated excellence in writing across platforms and genre of journalistic writing. This award was established in 2004.
Lórien Award: Prose, Poetry, Art and Photography
Namesake: Lórien Campbell
The Lórien Awards were established in 2007 in honor of 2006 CCHS graduate and iliad staff member Lórien Campbell. Lórien’s publishing debut was as a 6th grade “Baby Glad” in the iliad— where she continued to publish poems and short stories until her senior year. In 2005 she joined the iliad staff — winning the Team Player Award before graduation. At Georgia College and State University, she was featured in the Peacock’s Feet literary magazine from 2008-2011. Before graduating with a BA in Creative Writing and a Masters of Teaching English she was honored with an award from the Academy of American Poets. Her work has been featured in OCAF art exhibits, Mind Murals, Athens Word of Mouth, and the Red Earth Poetry Festival. She is currently wrapping up a three-year project to write and self-publish 700 new poems.
Criteria: Established in 2009 by Sharla Campbell in honor of her daughter Lórien. Awarded by the iliad EIC to the outstanding piece in each category.
James Quinton Lumpkin, V Memorial Scholarship
Namesake: James Quinton Lumpkin, V
Criteria: James loved his experience at summer camps and in his memory, the Lumpkin Family seeks to award ODYSSEY/iliad students eager to grow their skills through summer enrichment. Established in 2019 after the death of James by the Lumpkin Family.
Mary Grace Hager Leadership Award
Namesake: Mary Grace Hager
Mary Grace Hager contributed to the iliad first as a “Baby Glad” and joined the staff herself as a freshman. She served on staff for her entire time at Clarke Central including two years as editor/co-editor. She was on the ODYSSEY staff for one semester on the features team. She received her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Rice University. Her first role after graduating, Special Assistant to the President at Gordon College, led to the with- co-authorship of View from the Top: An Inside Look at How People in Power See and Shape the World (Wiley 2014), which has been translated into Chinese and Japanese. While working as a researcher at the Boston Consulting Group, Mary Grace transferred from Boston to London for a leadership role. She has since moved to Birmingham, England, where she works as Business Insight Lead at the West Midlands Growth Company, working to create jobs and investment to benefit the people of the West Midlands. She still enjoys reading and writing and fondly remembers Saturdays spent at CCHS designing the iliad with friends. Serving as editor of the iliad was her first leadership role and gave her the confidence to lean into the gifting and subsequent learnings throughout her career and personal life.
Criteria: Established in 2007 by iliad Adviser David Ragsdale in honor of the four year contributions, leadership, vision and drive of Mary Grace Hager, who began her iliad contributions while in middle school.
Bryan Barks-Caroline Foster Commitment Award
Namesake: Bryan Barks, Caroline Foster
Bryan Barks served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the iliad from 2007-2009 and Editor-in-Chief of the Odyssey from 2008-2009. She is currently the Southeast Regional Director at the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network. Prior to her work at TSPN, she spent nearly a decade in the Washington, DC and Baltimore areas working in gun violence prevention, mental health advocacy, strategic communications, and nonprofit development. She earned a Master of Health Science in Mental Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where her graduate work focused on firearm suicide prevention.
As a graduate student, Bryan interned at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Following graduation, she worked as a communications consultant specializing in mental health communications.
Bryan has championed suicide prevention policies at the state and federal levels via written and oral testimony, presentations, media appearances, and op-eds placed in strategic publications. Her written work has been published in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Vox, and The Hill, among other publications.
Caroline Foster joined the iliad staff in 2005 and served as co-editor-in-chief her senior year 2008-09. She has a bachelor’s degree in Computational Media and a master’s in Human-Computer Interaction, both from Georgia Tech. Foster has 9 years of experience in the tech industry working in innovation labs at companies such as BMW, AT&T, and Intel. She’s currently working at Meta as a user experience researcher.
Criteria: Established in 2010 by iliad adviser David Ragsdale in honor of the commitment of two iliad leaders whose mission on the iliad staff was to showcase the diverse and talented voices of the CCHS community within the pages of the iliad.