My name is Sierra Pape

I am a high school junior, curious journalism student, active news reporter and passionate storyteller. Through this website, I am sharing my reflections and lessons learned from 2 1/2 years at The Southerner, one of the best high school journalism programs in the nation, located in the heart of Atlanta.

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Currently, I am a junior at Midtown High School, a public school in the heart of Atlanta.  As a 4.0 student, I am enrolled in a challenging curriculum of AP and Honors classes and am pursuing the Journalism track.

At Midtown, we are fortunate to have one of the nation’s leading student newspapers, The Southerner, with a readership of over 185,000 annually. This year I serve as Managing Editor of the News Section, which allows me to spread truthful news on critical topics and amplify unheard voices in metro Atlanta on key subjects.  In the past 3 years, I have been pleased to win four national Best of SNO awards for our published articles. Recently I was nominated for the Governor’s Honors Program in Social Studies and hope to represent Midtown High School in Summer 2024.

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In addition, I serve as Board Head for my local chapter of the nonpartisan national organization “When We All Vote,” which has the mission to increase voter turnout for historically underrepresented segments of society; in 2022 we activated over 400 high school students to register to vote and were highlighted by Michelle Obama.

Outside of school, I work to uplift youth voices by serving as the Vice Chair of the Fulton County Youth Commission, a selective organization to express the most pressing issues for youth to our local commissioners. In the Legislative Council, I led the drafting of in-depth briefs regarding the Dropout Age, School-to-Prison Pipeline, and Corporal Punishment to present to legislators. Additionally, last year we hosted Christmas Toy Drives, H.O.P.E Box initiatives, Mural Series on the Atlanta Beltline, and Drug Prevention tours. Last year, as a Model Atlanta Regional Commissioner (MARC), I represented Atlanta’s youth, contributing to programs focused on transportation, sustainability, and community development. 

In 2023, I was honored to receive the National Council of English Teachers (NCTE) 2023 First Class National Distinction, for the Top Achievement Award in Writing and Promising Young Writers Contest, which was awarded to three students in Georgia and only 114 students across the country.

Engaging deeply in our community and sharing truthful information is a passion of mine that I look forward to pursuing throughout my career and life.