The Voice of the Everystudent

Some thoughts on our first issue:

On Thursday, Mr. Grijalva stopped me at lunch and said, "I haven't had the chance to read the whole paper. Which is the best story?" This is like asking a parent which is their favorite child. I hesitated a moment and pointed to Jafet's opinion piece on the ID badges, not really knowing why.

After thinking about it, I picked that piece not because it was the best written, or the most interesting, but because it took the most risk. (It was also the only criticism that the principal offered when I asked him about the paper, saying he wished we had included a pro and a con.)

Publishing a student newspaper involves walking a fine line. The school provides us with a classroom and computers, pays the $534.80 for each issue (unless we sell an ad) and generally makes the paper possible. We want to be proud of our school and show it in a positive light. However, that does not mean we need to be a public relations department or a propaganda machine for the school. (See the July entry "Are you a guard dog?") Remember: we are the voice of the student. Before (and after) you write a story, ask yourself, "What would I want to know if I were the reader?"

In literature we refer to the common man as the Everyman. For our purposes, I would call it the Everystudent. It could be anyone; it could be everyone. We give voice to their thoughts.

Assignment for Friday

I will be out fifth and sixth period tomorrow for a doctor's appointment. I will leave you an assignment on How to Be Your Own Editor. If you need to leave to take a photo or doublecheck a fact, make sure you inform the substitute. (I'll leave a note that you have permission.) I'll leave the camera with Jafet.

Mr Lange is following us on Twitter

Hey, I just checked our email and saw that Mr. Lange is following us on Twitter. Then I looked at his tweets which are really fun. Has anyone interviewed him for the social networking story? If not, let's do so on Tuesday.

All Stories due Tuesday

Your story should be in Times New Roman font size 10. It can be emailed to crimsonchron@aol.com or handed to an editor on a flash drive when you walk in the door on Tuesday. Editors will then begin reading your stories and may ask you for clarification. You may have to doublecheck a fact or a quote. While they do that, I will lead the rest of the class in a lesson on how to sell advertising.

I'm really impressed with how hard you are all working (except Sree). I look forward to reading your stories. As we put the newspaper together in the next week, you may be asked to do a variety of tasks, such as writing a newsbrief, or taking a photo, or chasing down a fact. I feel confident this will be a great first issue.

Sree: You need to interview students in an advisory other than SAS. Mr. Carlos Garcia (Room 211) has a 9th grade Teaching Academy advisory. He says you can talk to them.

Let's Review

We are publishing an 8-page paper on Thursday, Oct. 8.
Page 1: Stories on the huge increase in Hollywood High's test scores, the Homecoming game/dance/pep rally, and how budget cuts are affecting school. Also an inside box with photos. (COLOR)
Page 2: Opinion/Editorial includes Man on the Street, letters to the editor and staffbox
Page 3: News includes new policy on wearing IDs around our neck, Health-Nutrition SLC plans for a student-run cafe, interviews with Boys State participants, screenplay student who won a $1,000 scholarship, college application season begins
Pages 4-5: Features include how students use social networking, 80s fashion is back. (COLOR)
Page 6: Entertainment includes the five worst video games of all time, student-created comic strips, this date in history (from the HHS newspaper archives)
Page 7: Sports include football, volleyball and the $3,800 raised for school sports by this summer's golf tournament.
Page 8: Full page color ad from Robek's Juice