Article Possibilities for Edition 1 (9/24-10/13)

NEWS
New animal cruelty law
School board policies / issues
Presidential campaign update
Social justice article (topic tbd)
Syrian war / refugee crisis
Local political issues / elections
New secondhand smoke in cars law
EU labeling of goods manufactured in Israeli settlements
Role of religion in the Presidential campaign
Summer wildfires
Racism problems on college campuses Maura
Papal visit
Chinese premier visit
Obama's lame duck policies


STUDENT LIFE
School play
Class officer elections Sammi
Spirit week Hailey
Homecoming festivities
Student feature
AP vs Running Start
Club day / club feature
College preparation article -- testing tips?
Inside the head of a freshman / Senior advice Hailey
Interview with a former student (link to homecoming)
Work life of a student -- balancing commitments?
"Don't miss this?"
Foreign exchange students Sammi

FEATURES
Halloween: Atlanta 
Poetry month
NaNoWriMo
Advice column Alicia 
Restaurant reviews Alicia
Easter Island Heads
Health / Nutrition: Alex 
Science / Medicine Alicia
Technology Kollee
Travel / Culture: Alex
Music / Theater Kollee

Sports
Soccer Game / Feature Mikael
Football Game / Feature  Eddy
Tennis Match / Feature
Swim Team Game / Feature Ashley
Volleyball Match / Feature
Golf Match / Feature: Atlanta
Cheer Ashley 
Dance Team Mikael 
Equestrian Team
Coach Feature  Eddy
Marching Band
Scoreboard (graphic, not an article) Eddy
Fantasy Football Kyle
Superbowl Prediction Eddy/ Kyle

Wolf Crier Initial Layout Evaluation

Article Coverage

Selection of Newsworthy Articles

Specific, Relevant, Engaging Description of Article Topics

Article Content

Clear Description of Content

Creative Content or Format

Layout

Resembles a Professional Newspaper

Easy to Follow / Intuitive

Eye-Catching and Creative

Scoring Scale:

4: Excellent: Actively supports the creation of a professional quality, creative, relevant newspaper

3:  Adequate: Provides a quality product, but may not demonstrate the awareness of current events, creativity, or consistency necessary for an excellent paper

2: All elements are addressed, but demonstrates limited understanding of news / features coverage or weak /  inconsistent development

1: Shows lack of attention to detail, sloppy or rushed completion, coverage of inappropriate or irrelevant content, or lack of credibility

0: Incomplete / unfinished.

The BHHS Wolf Crier Will:

Justify the existence of this student publication.

The Wolf Crier Will:

Provide experience in the journalism field for students interested in a communications career

Give the students at BHHS a voice in their community

Develop personal and professional communications skills

Create an informed student body

Give recognition to the efforts and accomplishments of BHHS students

Create a product that students anticipate and seek out.

Concrete Procedures: How to Make Quality News

Relevant, diverse article topics
Keep up with current events
Read other papers
Follow twitter accounts
      Assigned articles
Attend events
      Calendar with sign-ups
Follow up on activities and events
      Assign articles/interviews to people on schedule
Share ideas with U.S. Government current events
Assign articles
Compete for quality
     Create proposals for article ideas and section layout

Article Quality
Checklist of coverage
Follow a clear writing process
Prewrite checklist
Peer edit forms with multiple steps
Critiquing sections before and after publication

Potential Topics and Ideas

Global/National News:

• Polls
• Statistics
• Political campaigns
• Global Issues
• Humanitarian
• Economic Issues

Engaging to Athletes:

• NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, NFL, etc.
• March Madness
• Professional sports drama

Humorous:

• Article about school rules 
• Comic strip
• Student drawn
• Something similar to "Kyle's Corner"
• Kyle Wiesner

Engaging to Artistic Crowd:

• Music (all genres at some point)
• Weekly playlist
• Showcase VisCom images
• Book reviews
• Artists of the week
• People submit art, one gets picked

Events at BHHS:

• Bulletin
• Sneak peaks
• Online stuff exclusives
• Highlights
• Info on clubs

Random:

• Poetry
• Horoscopes
• Trivia
• Quote of the week
• Ads
• Anonymous comments about public
• Wolf facts

Strong Publication vs. Weak Publication

STRONG: WHAT DO WE SEE
Needs/wants/ideas
-Must be appealing to various groups of people
-Interactive articles/surveys
-Challenge ideas and inspire discussion
-Well worded/written
-Playlist of the week (student impact)
-Comedy/funnies/satire
-Well-formatted
-Good spelling
-Highlight student achievement
-Sports section

Keep in mind: Purpose, scope, question at issue, evidence, concepts,inferences, POW, assumptions, implications
What works from previous experience:
-Surveys
-Traditional newspaper format is better than book format
-Quality photos featuring a variety of people
-Has to do with school because it is a "School Newspaper"


WEAKSAUCE:
Bad/poor quality/Not US
-Not useful articles
-No teenage interest
-Sexism
-Repetitive
-Doesn't cover all sports and clubs and all teams (varsity, JV, C-team)
-Clumpy/unorganized
-Extreme seriousness
-Writer can't be lazy with their works; they must seem interested
-Uninformed and biased
-Confusing or dysfunctional column set-up
-False  information
-Rarely about student life; irrelevant

What doesn't work from previous experience:
-"Llamas are best"
-"What girls/guys say"
-"Nice guys curse"
-Something biased or false
-Not knowing where the next sentence/paragraph begins

NATION'S contribution and what the NATION gets out of it

Contribution
Demand quality
Watch it 
Buy it
Make sure it's not controlled by interested / based groups
View critically and accept credible information -- rather than tailoring your consumption to your beliefs.
Refuse to watch -- protest or call attention to bias

Look for quality



Benefits
Keeps people involved in what's going on locally
Connects people from all over the world -- awareness of international events and cultures
Gives people an unbiased source of information
Sheds light on injustice
Information about economy / opportunity
Raise or resolve controversy
Entertainment
Security
Balances views provided by government and corporations -- info by the people for the people
Foundation of democracy -- con't make political decisions without knowing contemporary issues and forming informed opinions on them

SCHOOL'S contribution and what the SCHOOL gets out of it

Contribution:
High self-esteem
Student input
Seek out other perspectives
Be aware of when things are -- get access to event calendars and plans
Seek out staff input and guidance and information
Active involvement school providing to us and us engaging in them
Get input about what is wanted what people need to see

Benefits:
Recognition to groups that don't get much advertising
Keeps people informed about upcoming events
Helps students feel accomplished
Promote BHHS ideals and values -- support self-image / perception
Showcase student writing and photography
Challenge viewpoints provide new perspectives and info
Inspiration and motivation
Student perspective on events -- by the student body for the student body
Encourage involvement/participation

YOUR contribution and what YOU get out of it

Contribution
TIME
Showing Up
Humor
Creativity
Patience
Persuasion
Interests and Skills:
Sports involvement, Leadership team, NHS, GSA, Band Choir, Color Guard, Flight Club, Music, Gaming, Literature, Life Skills, Poetry, Cheer, Politics,



Learning
Write on a deadline
Write for a real audience & purpose
Give recognition to others
A way to get and stay involved
Create New relationships
Diversify interests
Practice different writing styles