teach a class titled Journalism. This course is designed for anyone who likes to write or anyone who thinks he/she might like to write. I have a degree in philosophy, which may or may not qualify me as someone who likes to write, but heaven knows I wrote ceaselessly in college. I think good readers make good writers; that is, people who enjoy reading often enjoy writing. A few years ago, when I was teaching a marketing class at Willow Canyon HS in Surprise, I asked the class of 30 junior & senior students how many had read a book in the past year. The response: one. One student (a senior) had read one book in the past year. That’s sad. I took the time to read the class a book—aloud; in class; on marketing.
| This past summer, I read Stephen King’s acclaimed book, On Writing. In his book, Mr. King said that, although he is not a very fast reader, he manages to read 70 or 80 books a year. Now 70 or 80 books a year is not necessarily the number a good writer needs to read, but certainly the number should be more than zero. The journalism course we have at WHS is aimed at newspaper journalism the first year, with the intention of adding other-media journalism—including broadcast, telecast, web-cast, and pod-cast journalism—the second year. | We have an e-mail address that is available for sending in stories, comments, questions and suggestions: journalism.whs@gmail.com. We also accept advertising which is done through the Wickenburg Sun at vic44@wickenburgsun.com or by calling 928-684-5454. Throughout both years of the journalism course, students will be introduced and become proficient in the use of computers in general, researching information via the web, and in the application of several business-oriented software programs, including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign, as well as Microsoft Word, Publisher and Moviemaker. Since photography is an essential part to print journalism, there will be an emphasis on the basic use of digital photography and the manipulation of photos for print. |
| Our friends at The Wickenburg Sun have been so kind as to welcome our attempts at high school journalism to be included as an insert in their newspaper. We hope to be able to do this on a monthly basis. The journalism class is set up much like a newspaper staff; we have standard positions such as editors, feature writers, staff writers, hard news writers, sports editors, photo editors, beat reporters, etcetera. Deadlines are set in place by the editor, and stories are either self-selected and approved, or assigned by the editor. The students do interviews, attend school events, write poems, answer advice questions, create stories, and have fun with the writing process. | In addition to the course in journalism, I also teach a freshmen-required course in Career & Technology Foundations. This class emphasizes the particular study and life-skills that new students need to implement in order to have a firm foundation for future success. The technology aspect of the course includes keyboarding, formatting of business letters and memos, using Microsoft programs Word, Publisher and PowerPoint, and searching and researching via the internet. The career portion of the class aims at various types of life skills such as determining who we are, what we want, and how we get it. We touch on life issues that include values, ethics, morals, decision making, goal setting, and establishing priorities for time management. |
| Since 2008-09 is the first year for this course at WHS, everyone involved is experiencing a pronounced learning curve—including this teacher. Every student in the class—as well as some outside the class—contributes to the overall end-product: the school newspaper, The Wrangler Gazette. And, we all bear patiently with each others’ limited experience within the world of journalism. Our hope is that the students and readers of The Gazette will be equally patient with all of us as we struggle to bring the current issues that affect our campus to their attention. |
Created By: Patrick Adams
Last Updated: May 15, 2009
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