PRINCETON – On Monday July 9, Zach Stern, a 14-year-old high school student, sacrificed the first of many summer mornings to find out what it’s like to be a journalist. At the Princeton Packet Inc.’s 2001 Journalism Camp, Stern planned to combine a love of baseball and writing to begin his pursuit of a career as a sports writer.
By: Chris Czochanski
Stern was born in Manhattan and moved to New Jersey when he was six. Around the same time, stern started to play baseball.
"At first my parents just signed me up, but after one day, I was hooked."
Last season, Stern pitched and played first base for Princeton High School’s JV team. He said his team had a successful season going 20-3. In the off season, Stern played for a traveling team, the Princeton-Cranbury 14-Year-Old All-Stars. Stern’s athletic accomplishments include winning sveral championships. The most recent championship win, a game that he pitched in, was the West Widsor Tournament against West Widsor this year. Two years ago, Stern pitched his first no-hitter against the Ewing Nationals in a district tourney. Although baseball is his forte, Stern has participated in soccer, tennis, plays street basketball with his friends and occasionaly stakeboards.
Stern is involved in high school sports, but he is not your sterotypical jock. He prerforeds just as well in the classroom as he did on the mound. Last year, he took journalism and was a solid B student. Playing baseball and reading the work of Sports Illustrated writers like Stephan Cannella and Jack McCallum have influenced the direction Stern wants to take his writing. "I read Sports Illustrated and I really like the stories those guys write, that really made me want to be a sports writer."
Princeton Packet Inc.’s 2001 Journalism Camp ran for seven weeks. Zach Stern along with the other students, learned about the journalism profession and imroved writing and editing skills. Melissa Edward, a former high school journalism teacher, from the Packet, is teaching the class. By the end of camp, she had hopes that the blooming journalist would have enough skills and experience to start getting published.
As the saying goes, "you snooze you lose," so while most high school students are sleeping-in this summer, Zach Stern will be getting a jump-start on a possible career as a sports writer.