On April 9, 2026, Esther Gould (’27) and Eli Gologanova (’25) won the inaugural George Polk Award in high school feature writing for their article “The Eternal Life of Jeff Buckley.”

The George Polk Awards, hosted by Long Island University (LIU) since 1949, are some of the most prestigious honors in journalism. Past recipients include Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who uncovered the infamous Watergate scandal; LIU prizes “enterprise work that is original, significant, brings results, and requires resourcefulness and courage.” 

This year marked LIU’s first time extending its awards to high school journalists. Students from only four schools, including HSMSE, received awards.

Esther and Eli’s article on Jeff Buckley illuminated new details and photographs from his life and storied musical career through an interview with Jessica Liebman. “We wanted to share Liebman’s perspective as someone who witnessed his passionate intensity for living and music that brought him into the public eye,” Esther said. She and Eli worked tirelessly to write the piece, emailing back and forth with Liebman to weave in special anecdotes.

When it was published in Issue 11 of The Echo, many HSMSE students and teachers revealed their adoration of Jeff Buckley to Eli and Esther. “They would come out of the woodworks to talk to me about the article,” Eli said. “It was really nice to entertain his legacy.” 

The article also reached audiences beyond the HSMSE community through posts on Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest with over a thousand likes collectively: “I’m looking at a post, and it’s like, ‘Babe, wake up, new Jeff Buckley photos just dropped,’ crying emoji, star emoji, pink heart emoji,” Esther recalled.

This February, co-editor-in-chief Ocean Hiller (’26) found the opportunity to submit The Echo’s work to LIU’s new George Polk high school journalism categories: feature writing, investigative reporting, and best new publication. He selected “The Eternal Life of Jeff Buckley” for feature writing; Esther was delighted, as it is her favorite article she has written for The Echo.

In March, The Echo’s team learned through email that the article had won the Polk feature writing award. “OMG! This improved my day so much after a horrendous SAT … I’ll text Eli!” Esther wrote. “I’m floored, dude!!!” Eli texted back.

Ocean and Ms. Hesseltine proudly applauded Eli and Esther as they accepted their feature writing award on April 9 at LIU’s Kumble Theater. All of the awarded high school journalists briefly came to the stage as a prelude to the George Polk Seminar, which spotlit reporting on immigration this year.

The seminar was moderated by Richard Tofel, the former president of ProPublica. He guided Camilo Montoya-Galvez, Elliott Woods, and Stephanie Keith as they discussed their Polk award–winning stories, which each addressed the immigration crackdown by humanizing the individuals targeted by it.

Keith, a freelance photojournalist, described traveling every morning for months to the immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza. She witnessed ICE repeatedly grabbing and handcuffing immigrants as their children cried, capturing thousands of photographs. At the seminar, Keith reflected on her reporting as “being with people on the absolute worst days of their lives.”

The audience at the Kumble Theater was moved by the panelists’ poignant stories. LIU graciously encouraged the high school journalists to sit in the front row—when Tofel prompted audience members to ask questions, the students spoke first.

The following day, Eli, Esther, and Ms. Hesseltine attended a luncheon where the professional journalists received their Polk awards at Cipriani 42nd Street. This architecturally stunning bank building between Park and Lexington Avenues was converted into a restaurant and event space where the Polk awards are held annually.

Greeted by a red carpet and the excited chatter of the world’s top journalists, The Echo’s team was led to table 27, where all high school Polk award recipients were seated. It was shocking. “[The] venue [had], like, oh God, marble detailing, and 50-foot ceilings … that was pretty wicked,” Eli said.

Although Eli and Esther initially felt intimidated, journalists welcomed and congratulated them. At the beginning of the awards ceremony, curator John Darnton asked the high school students to stand as he called their names one by one. A wave of applause followed. Then, some of the professional Polk award winners were invited on stage to accept their plaques.

Among those who approached table 27 was editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick. “He just walked up to the table smiling and said, ‘So, when are you guys gonna start sending me your stuff?’ which I thought was awesome,” Ms. Hesseltine said. She recalled handing Remnick a print copy of The Echo and several Echo stickers, including one with a QR code to the website. “He was, like, ‘I’m gonna wear this on my jacket!’”

Attending the Polk awards luncheon was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience that left indelible impacts upon each of the three. Ms. Hesseltine shared that hearing the journalists “made me so hopeful about the larger world, because there was this room full of people who are dedicated to making sure that there is a way of speaking up for people who are deserving of justice.”

What impacted Esther the most were the individual journeys that the journalists took in order to craft their stories and inform the public, even in times of war and immense danger. “Seeing that video of [Mariam Dagga’s] colleagues, and them telling the story of their work, and how she had been just so dedicated … there was a whole shift in the atmosphere because we all saw how serious this is,” Esther said. Mariam Dagga was one of the only female war correspondents in Gaza; she was honored with the photojournalism award posthumously. 

Upon hearing all of these stories, Eli and Esther admitted that it was hard to believe that their story had won, as well. “What struck me was how serious this event actually was … I didn’t think we could actually win anything with this … it was really crazy to be honored at [an event like this]. Especially for something small we did in high school,” said Eli. 

Despite the shock of winning this award shared by both Eli and Esther, Ms. Hesseltine stated that “the way [the journalists at the luncheon] talked so passionately about whatever [their] story was … reminded me so much of you guys.”

And when he finished announcing the names of the Polk award-winning students, curator John Darnton shared a similar sentiment: “Congratulations to you all; some day, in the not-so-far future, we may see you up here again.”