Class Ring

Kirk Semple has won a 1995 School Bell Award for Journalistic Excellence for his cover story "After the Brawl." The award will be presented this Saturday, October 14, during the annual Florida Education Association/United luncheon, which is being held this year at the Hyatt Regency in Miami.

Semple, a New Times staff writer since 1991, took first place among nondaily papers in the Best News/Feature category. His April 20 cover story, which traces the roots of a February 1995 melee at Coral Gables High School, provides an in-depth examination of racial conflict and its consequences.

Inaugurated in 1960, the yearly statewide School Bell Awards Contest recognizes journalists, and occasionally individual citizens, for their contributions to the public's understanding of public education and the teaching profession. This is the second consecutive year a New Times staffer has topped the News/Feature division; last year Jim DeFede won for a 1993 story about integration at Lillie C. Evans Elementary School in Liberty City.