Woodland's journalism class blends communication, information

A new class at Woodland High School this year is helping get the word out.

Language Arts teacher Nichole Stegeman has developed a journalism class, which has a dual purpose. The students in the class are learning valuable communication skills, and they are also serving the school by providing valuable information to their peers and Woodland staff.

Students have a lot of ownership in the class, and are shaping the medium as they create it. Some of the students work on The Cardinal Scroll, a school newspaper. Others produce Da News, a video broadcast.

The Scroll features sports news, local announcements and updates from the Woodland Student Council, among other things. Junior Cierra Brownlee is in charge of the “Teacher Spotlight". Each issue has featured a favorite teacher, selected by popular vote. Student work is also highlighted in many of the issues. Photographs of student artwork and samples of writing showcase the talents of Woodland creators. Each week, a columnist, masked by the pen name “Mike” answers students’ questions in the advice column titled “Ask Mike". Writer Katerina Phares tries her hand at satire in her column, “The Radish,” a clever twist on the popular satirical news organization, The Onion. The issues wrap up with a cartoon and a puzzle or riddle to entertain readers. Journalism students have been cranking out their newspaper in digital form every two weeks. Logan Harris has the task of designing the layout of the paper. She said, “I enjoy having the opportunity to be creative and have some freedom in my work and being able to see and write about the fun things going on at school.”

Other students in the class focus their efforts on a video broadcast. Publication has been less frequent, leading to a few logistics issues. The news crew has addressed these hiccups with humor. For example, they discovered that covering the weather, while a central part of most television broadcasts, is difficult to do in real time. Their editing and production has taken several weeks as they learn a completely new medium. They decided to do a weather forecast anyway, with a disclaimer at the bottom of the screen stating, “This forecast is irrelevant and only included for the vibe.” The humorous tone runs throughout the broadcast, dubbed Da News and backed by a hip-hop-themed intro jingle. The intro graphics look very official, but a red bar reads “Not live” and the tagline under the title claims Da News is “Woodland’s best and only broadcast.”

Lead anchor, senior Kale Landewee, dons a black tie, but loosely worn over athletic gear. He speaks in a professional anchor tone, but adds in humorous quips and “bloopers,” such as getting caught eating a granola bar at the anchor desk. From his desk, Landewee bounces to interviews, footage, and “Da Weather,” periodically pausing for commercial breaks. The result is a funny and informative spoof on a real television broadcast.

Phares, a senior, described the atmosphere of the class as “Pretty chill, though that’s what you should expect from a class with seniors and one junior.” She revealed that bouncing ideas off of each other can lead to hilarious ideas for articles and segments. Judging by their products, Stegeman's students are learning a lot about journalism and having fun in the process.