Photo by Zane Hudson

Brandon Oldham, 12, takes a picture at the journalism lock-in

People need a sense of belonging. For me, newspaper fulfills that need, and it could for you as well. We could always use writers to produce stories for the online newspaper. You should join us. Our team is pretty cool.

Being in The Know
As a writer you get presented with current events at the school. It feels great to have awareness of things going on around the community. Staff members get to write about these events and are provided with all the ‘juicy’ details.

Environment
In the journalism room, all of the staff welcomes and provides one another with an awesome work environment. Individuals work at their own Mac desktop and use various tools to be successful. If a task feels troublesome, almost anyone will help and answer any questions.

Food
In the mornings, everyone can eat the various kinds of cereals found in the cabinets. On work nights (which occur once a month), a staff member’s family provides dinner. Most recently, we ate tacos. Yum.

Travel
Every year, our department travels to the NSPA national convention somewhere in the United States. At the convention, you go to workshops, meet people, etc. but during free time you explore whatever city you visit. This provides memories and fun, especially with other people in your department. In November 2018, journalism will travel to Chicago, Illinois.

Exposure
We get recognized from all over the nation. Interested in journalism as a profession later in life? Exposure from our newspaper can’t hurt. With this, we also compete in UIL competitions which result in scholarships depending on how well competitors perform.

English Class
More of an excess perk, but writing in newspaper makes you more familiar with your own writing. This helps in English classes for essays and short answers as well.  Students can also earn an English credit by participating in the program for four years.

Skills
Writing, photo, talking to people, web, pretty much everything we do in this class, you’ll do the rest of your life. You might as well be good at it, right?