Joe Pearson, Sports editor
Joe Pearson, a senior at St. Joseph Catholic School, is sports editor of The Bear Facts. Pearson served as sports editor during his freshman and a sophomore before being promoted to editor-in-chief effective during his junior year.
Pearson is an award-winning columnist who took first place in 2019 from the Columbias Scholastic Press Association in Sports Commentary for a column he wrote in The Bear Facts about star baseball player Trey Frierson. He won second place from the CSPA in the same category in 2018 for as column he wrote about St. Joe baseball coach Gerard McCall's unusual path that led him to become as high school coach.
Pearson received the prestigious Orley Hood Award for Excellence in High School Sports Journalism in 2017, the fourth year in a row that a St. Joe student won the award. The award is named after the late Orley Hood, the longtime popular sports and feature columnist for The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson. Pearson was as finalist for the award in 2018.
Last spring, Pearson and his staff oversaw the conversion of The Bear Facts from a print publication to a 100 percent digital online-only publication. Besides working for The Bear Facts, Pearson also plays varsity sports and is a member of the Bruin football and baseball teams - including the 2018 state championship baseball squad.
During the winter, Pearson serves as the Voice of Bruin Basketball, providing play-by-play for St. Joe home district basketball games available through the Bruin Broadcasting Network live streaming video webcasts as well as on the WJXC Jackson, Mississippi Catholic Radio, live radio broadcasts. Pearson also hosts the "Michael Howell Show" pre-game coach's show that airs before each home game.
You can contact him at [email protected].
