Intro to Journalism:

At Elmwood Park High School, all students have an opportunity to enroll in the class Intro to Journalism, which can be followed by Advanced Journalism. The class revolves around learning how to write in general, especially if you’re looking for a career that has to deal with writing or journalism. The class offers many opportunities for students to better their reading, writing, and communication skills which could be extremely beneficial in the future.

Workload & Assignments

When starting Intro to Journalism, all students will find out that they will be participating in writing the school’s newspaper: The Tiger. Although the class mostly revolves around writing issues for the paper, it is not the only thing you’ll be learning. The workload itself for the class can be considered at a medium level, as when you aren’t working on your article, you receive separate assignments. You’ll most likely be given a whole class period and the rest of your day to complete your assignment, and it would be due the following day. The assignments themselves contain learning how to write a review, an example would be going over what a review is, practicing with an assignment in class, and then reviewing a movie which you’d watch in class. In other lessons, you’d learn how to interview somebody, where you’d learn the basics of an interview and later on ask your fellow classmates different questions which you come up with and simply practice your communication skills in an environment where you won’t be judged. The class also provides lessons which will teach you to better your editing skills, creating headlines, and giving you the freedom to write about what you would like. It is even a good opportunity to connect with fellow students by reading and writing about each other’s articles.

The image above shows an example of one of the lessons in the class. The unit speaks on learning how to interview, and gather information from interviews.

The Tiger

The Tiger is known to be Elmwood Park High School’s very own online newspaper. It would normally be sent out on Google Sites for students, staff, and parents to read. Although, this year our school has their very own website, SNO, which is accessible to anybody. When starting your first issue of The Tiger, you’ll be guided on what is expected in the newspaper and you’ll also learn that you could write about absolutely anything. Examples would be writing about your favorite singer, movie, writing a review, writing about political/social events, or even anything going on in the school. If you’re confused or stuck on what to write about, your teacher will gladly lead you in the right direction and help you brainstorm ideas. The Tiger also consists of holiday issues, like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, etc. Writing issues is a great opportunity to once again connect with your peers, and even people outside of school. It allows you to share your opinion and even write about something you’re passionate about. Students are given around 2 weeks to brainstorm and write their first draft of their articles. Afterwards, they will edit their article with the teacher. Finally, all articles are published onto the website and you’ll receive a reflection, where you could analyze what you liked and disliked, along with your newest ideas for your next issue!

Takeaways

After conducting interviews with students currently enrolled in the class, most students could agree that the class has has been beneficial to them by teaching them new ways to write and simply just improve their writing in general. By taking the class, students are able to improve their grammar, educate themselves and others, improve in different styles of writing, and more. Many students enjoy the fact that the class is slowly paced, but at the same time encouraged to get your work done. Other students believe that it’s a good way to open your vocabulary and become more professional in your writing. This semester there have been two teachers, Ms. Gonzalez, a student teacher, and EPHS’s very own Mrs. Heinin. The both voiced their opinions, stating that the class will allow students to learn the importance of researching and exploring topics that they are passionate about, rather than being forced to write about topics they have no interest in. The class also allows students to improve in their futures and careers as they will have the ability to be aware of what’s going on in our world and society, and may even gain qualities like staying on schedule and self-assessing.

Journalism itself is something that not all may be interested in, although it is a great opportunity for you to explore your interests along with your peers’. It can be very beneficial for your future and allow you to learn and improve skills you weren’t even aware you’d be capable of! It is strongly recommended to join a Journalism class, whether it’s Intro to Journalism or Advanced Journalism if you’ve taken a class previously. You’ll be shocked with how much you could learn!