Since my freshman year, when The Crimson J was still in print, I wanted to be a part of the Journalism class and see my very own articles in our newspaper. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any room in my schedule for this class until my last school year at JHS. However, this class has been well worth the three-year wait.
The journalism class is perfect for anyone who enjoys writing, and it is open to all JHS students. Once enrolled in the class, it’s time to start writing! Students are expected to write, on average, one article a week of their choosing; it sounds like a lot but really this goal is perfectly attainable.
Topics that past students have written about include sporting events in and outside of JHS, a preview or review of a movie, book, video game, or CD, a recent world event, student life, or any opinion article they wish to write. Mrs. Symons then reviews the article before it gets posted online.
As an opinionated writer, I really enjoyed the My Turn option, where I write an article about anything I have an opinion on. During the school year, I wrote about the controversy between books or movies being better, sharing a school with siblings, commonly used foul language, the hypocrisy of black Friday, my participation in JHS’s plays and musicals, students’ effort in school at the end of the year, the school dress code, and making the most of life.
I also really enjoyed writing previews and reviews of multiple books and movies like Divergent, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Vampire Academy, Anatomy of a Single Girl, and Noah. I really became invested in my articles and found a way to love what I wrote about. For example, after reading Divergent, I wrote a review of the book, finished the series, wrote a preview of the movie, and went to watch the movie in theaters, then wrote a review of the movie.
Another time I wrote a preview article of Vampire Academy because I couldn’t think of another article I wanted to write. After finishing the preview article, I was so excited about the movie that I went to see it in theaters that weekend. Then I read the all six books of the entire series, and now I’m currently reading book four of the companion series.
I have certainly enjoyed my work and time spent on the journalism class. I only wish I could have joined the class sooner. Besides the articles, I love the small class size that lets us all joke around and have a good time along with our amazing teacher Mrs. Symons.