By KRISTEN LEONARD
The website is down. The widgets, apparently, need to be updated. How do I update the widgets on WordPress. “Sumya, can you google how to update the widgets on WordPress?”
Where is the memory-card reader? “PJ, can you assign someone to take football pictures Saturday?” “James, did the article on Syria get published?” “Grace, the field hockey video looks great, can you put this video on YouTube, please?”
Of course, now the school network is down.
“Ok, Amanda and Vicki, we need to figure out what to put on the front page.”
“Football?”
“No, they have the back page in color.”
“The Marching Band?”
“Yes, that’s good–they won their competition.”
“Let’s turn the Harvest Moon Festival into a full color spread. We can also start the girls soccer article on the front page. We can also add small pictures at the bottom showcasing articles from the World, Entertainment, and Local sections.”
Why are the fonts in Indesign highlighted in red? They must not be recognized on this computer. 65 broken links to fix! I’m going to have to transfer pictures from a flash drive.
“Ok everyone ,we go to print tomorrow. Make sure you are staying after school if your page is not done!”
Four years ago, when I stepped into J387, Mr. Gallagher’s room, I never expected to be where I am now, Co-Editor in Chief of The Blue and Gold, the student newspaper at Malden High School. As a freshman, my job was to be a reporter, write articles, take pictures, and do layout and design. But year after year, more responsibilities were added.
This class has taught me how to manage my time, learn how to be independent, and how to be a leader. As one of the editors, I now have a huge responsibility, not only to the newspaper staff, but also to the community and the student body because the paper is a way to give the students a voice through submitted writing pieces, interviews, quotes, and even pictures. Our school newspaper shows off the diversity of the student body and showcases a great sense of school pride. Journalism is a way to give people the news, offer different opinions and provide critical information.
In the end, regardless of all the stress that newspaper deadlines can bring, the reward is opening up the paper on distribution day. Hearing students in the hallways say, “Wow that picture is so cool,” or “Look! Look! My name is in the paper!” and hearing compliments from teachers such as “Well written editorial,” or “That Op-ed you wrote was very interesting,” is all it takes to make all the stress of running the paper melt away.
