Every article you read in this very newspaper has blood, sweat and tears poured into it by our beloved staff. It takes a village to pump out quality articles every month. Since enrollment is right around the corner, you may be wondering what elective might be right for you.
Well, if you’re looking to boost your resume for college and have a creative outlet to share your interests and opinions through writing, Newspaper might be right for you!
A basic overview of Journalism
Journalism is a year-long elective class. Here, we write articles and upload them to the school newspaper, The Pawprint. Not only that, we also manage an Instagram account where we advertise these articles.
The articles we post are as diverse as our interests. We post blogs, news reports, opinions, reviews, comics and interviews for North students.
The class is held by Ms. Austin, a long-time English teacher. She’s laid-back and fun to talk to and also disciplined and motivated to get things done. If you’re a junior, you might’ve had her in sophomore year. She’ll take your writing to the next level.
I personally think this class could appeal to just about anyone. I’d say I’m decent at writing, but I never particularly enjoyed it or felt confident in it. I still enjoyed this class a lot. You don’t have to be a professional-level writer or good at spelling. You will learn with your classmates.
How do I benefit from this?
There are so many advantages to taking Journalism.
First of all, it’s a fun class!
If you’re tired of stuffy research papers and boring writing prompts, this class may catch your interest. You can write about pretty much whatever interests you and in a multitude of styles. We write anything from reviews for our favorite music albums to news reports on current events. Heck, we even have a blog post that details our staff members’ hear-me-outs. Or, if you’re more artsy, comic strips and graphic design elements are in high demand.
Even if you don’t have any ideas, your peers surely will and often you can even work together on articles. Another upside is the small but tight community The Pawprint brings. As aforementioned, our class has 11 students. This makes it surprisingly easy to make friends with your fellow staff members. Even as someone who has severe generalized anxiety, I found myself warming up to my classmates almost instantly. During a hard year of my life when I struggled to find the courage to show up to school, Journalism offered a community that made me feel safer here at North.
And finally, what you, a hardworking, high-achieving Edmond North student, have been wondering— academically, what do you gain from enrolling in this class?
The articles we write here will do wonders for your resume. In Journalism, you will write a variety of articles of different genres. This will show future colleges or employers that you are versatile and well-rounded. Additionally, we submit articles to contests. Imagine how good it would look to be a published writer on your resume!
Hear it from the staff
If you don’t believe me, you can hear it from several of our talented staff members.
Here’s what junior Sarah Avelar, staff writer, had to say:
“In sophomore year I was in Ms. Austin’s class, and she assigned us a research paper over a topic of our choosing. I wrote about pretty privilege and Ms. Austin really liked it, so she entered into the Oklahoma Writing Project. Long story short, I got published! That was when I realized that writing could be fun if I got to write about what I was passionate about. My passion made me write better, which helped me win contests. In Journalism, I have been able to continue writing what I am passionate about, and I have already won several awards.”
Assistant editor Levi White said, “I had not been much of a writer before my junior year, but Ms. Austin convinced me to join the newspaper staff sophomore year, and I don’t regret that decision at all. My writing skills have improved a bunch, and I feel like writing papers for other classes has become a breeze. I was even awarded a plaque at state for one of my articles! I never expected to do that, but that’s the reward for taking a chance.”
Senior editor Holly Hill said, “I joined the newspaper staff my sophomore year, and I have loved it ever since. We were a small but mighty staff of five when we started, but we have quickly grown to a staff of 11, and we would like to continue that growth. The newspaper has taught me so many valuable leadership lessons and has contributed heavily to me building a strong resume which looks awesome for colleges. But at the end of the day, the newspaper has given me so much more than lessons and a resume; it has given me a team I adore, a newfound love for writing and an amazing place to grow. Join the newspaper staff— trust me, you won’t regret it.”
Be on the lookout for Newsprinting/Journalism under the Broadcasting/Journalism category. If you need help finding it, send us a message. I hope we’ll see you here next year!
