Growing Pains

2011-2012 was a tough year for the Journalism Club. Our second year of existence began with a huge membership and plans to increase our publication from prior year to 3 per semester. For a club, this is pretty ambitious, particularly since we are 100% self-supporting. My summer institute at Arizona State University had me so pumped up with enthusiasm, and our membership included so many bright, enthusiastic, dedicated students, that I was sure we could do whatever we set out to do.

Now, at the end of the school year, we are reflecting on what we learned and resolving to make next year better. We learned that we should not begin to lay out an issue of the paper until we have the ads in hand to pay for it. We learned that once we get behind financially it becomes ever more difficult to recover. We learned that a lot of people appear to be enthusiastic at the beginning but that many will fall away when times get tough.

The field trip to the SF Chronicle was very informative though very different from what any of us expected. Several highly experienced writers and editors shared their experiences with us in the room where the staff meets each day to review the paper. A group from University of Nevada at Reno was visiting the same day, so we shared the room with them, getting the perspective of a college paper as a bonus.

We ended the year having published 4 issues and $500 in debt. Attendance at meetings went way down; several officers stopped showing up. I wondered if I should continue advising, since my students seemed to need a different kind of adviser: I believe that the students need to lead the club, with advice and guidance from me, but maybe they need someone who will be more directive. When I posed this question to the remaining officers, they disagreed, saying that nobody else is as qualified as I am, and they need me. OK, so I'm on board for the future.

We are working on producing our first annual Journalism Summer Camp, with guest speakers from two local newspapers, student-run workshops on a variety of topics, some fun reporting activities, and a day in the computer lab  so experienced members can lay out the first issue of the 2012-2013 school year and new members can begin to learn the ropes of InDesign from our coach.

This blog clearly is not getting much attention from this adviser, but I hope to check in now and then to keep it somewhat current. Check out Wolf Prints at the American Canyon High School web site, where youll find links to our PDFs.

Happy summer!

Volume II Issue No. 1 begins the new year

The Journalism Club at American Canyon High School has 36 members!  What a great turnout, and we haven't even had Club Day yet. The first issue is in layout, looking good. A few members went out to sell ads and came back with a good infusion of funds into our nearly empty account. Then later, a followup call made the day a true success - a full page ad AND a Gold level sponsorship from Papa Murphy's Pizza.

Layout isn't finished, so who knows when we'll go to press. I'm hoping for Thursday, Sept. 29. If we snag another full page ad we'll have to go to 12 pages and create a photo spread double truck to fill the new white space. Wednesday might be a long one.

A lot of learning went on at the layout session, with most of the crew being new to InDesign. They picked it up fast, however. I'm quite proud of them and hopeful that they'll be up for some awards by the end of the year.

2nd Edition Is Out

On the second-to-last day of school, we distributed the second edition of Wolf Prints. It's odd how hard we had to push to make it happen, and how little it matters to everybody else! Seriously, it is bizarre. Of course, I know how that goes. I don't really spend much time caring about the yearbook, because somebody else does that. I know it's agony and ecstasy producing the yearbook, but I'm pretty blase about it when it comes out.

Here's a link to the pdf.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=1306f4f94a40ed67&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3D9f15162a8c%26view%3Datt%26th%3D1306f4f94a40ed67%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26realattid%3Dac30c5eb70266240_0.1%26zw&sig=AHIEtbR7HQ9CodG4YjuV0cxDH5XxW0Tj9g

Personal Legend

Rereading The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlho with my Honors English 10 students while preparing for the Reynolds Institute causes a bizarre train of thought. I think mostly of how the words of Santiago and his guides and mentors will hit my students, but now and then I think of them for myself. In a way I am new enough at my pursuit (teaching journalism) to be encouraged by the refrain "when a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream."  Many times this is called "beginners luck." One would think that, at my age, my personal legend was nearly completed. Yet, apparently, the legend has chapters, and even "parts", and I'm working on a new Part.

What makes a deadline matter?

No grades for a journalism club, so what can make the deadline for copy mean something? I thought it would be the layout day. That is, after the writers missed two deadlines designed to give the editors time to read the articles before layout. Not effective, when the writers just don't show up for layout and those who do show up have very little to work with.

My friend and InDesign coach Jay Gamel suggests that layout cannot be scheduled until articles are in hand. (Of course, they told me the articles WERE in hand.)  Would that make the deadline count?

Dodging the Interview or Efficient Fact-Finding

I'm pondering this question, still, after a week.  The badminton coach, who happens to be my teaching partner,  mentioned to me that he had to complete a questionnaire for my paper.  News to me.  I thought my sports reporters were interviewing the coaches.  No, they devised a questionnaire for their Spring Sports Wrapup.  With so many coaches to consider and so little time, maybe this is a good idea. Or, maybe they will just add to the coaches' burden and not really do the job the reporter is supposed to do, gather the facts.  At this point, it's a matter of all of us learning from the experience.

Starting a new high school has been an experience of collaboration and creativity, collegiality and intellectual challenge like none other in my life. When Stella, a student in my Humanities 10 class, asked me to be adviser for the new Journalism Club she wanted to form, I think I didn't realize how she was changing my life. Of course I had thought of teaching Journalism, but the class had not been offered in year one for lack of enrollment. So, a Club? We did it. And the students and Jay, an old friend with valuable skills in the field, and I produced the first ever American Canyon High School student newspaper, "Wolf Prints" in February of 2011. We will produce the 2nd edition (and final for our first year) later this month. AND I'll be attending the ASNE Reynolds High School Journalism Institute at Arizona State University Cronkite School in June.

Next year?  We'll see, but right now the budget will not allow me to teach a class in Journalism, though I have 17 students enrolled. I am still hoping, but I am also formulating a way to do more teaching in the club format.