http://thesoutherneronline.com/frontpage/"You can't compare apples and oranges," is a cliche I must cling to when I'm looking at my 'crush' paper. The Southerner is a high school newspaper staff with 2 advisers, 16 editors, and 25 staff writers. I have 12 students on my staff. Why would I ever look at their fantastic paper and website and aspire to be an orange when we're clearly an apple?
However, they are truly an inspiration for our publication. They win awards like crazy for GSPA. This year they won 'best in state' and took home 51 awards. They are also a nationally awarded newspaper. They deserve it.
We get a copy of their paper in the mail and I love and loath the day it comes. (In the About Us section, you can view their actual paper in ISSUU.) We have had identical story ideas many times and their execution is just better every time. My students got used to a very non-traditional, not at all rule-following style of a paper with the advisers prior to me. I have yet to break the cycle, but this may just be the year. I've got an editor who will buy in, and I have a new staff who is also impressionable. I'd like to focus on the paper, but I really want to get a website in the works as well. The Southerner's website is well-organized and has a great use of social media.
They do everything that we are blogging about and learning about. They even made a book of the Humans of Grady. I hope that I'll have a few other paper crushes as a result of the institute. I really need to ask their advisers out on a 'date.'
Andrea Lyons
Marietta High
Marietta, Georgia
Get ready to have a crush on the A-Blast (www.thea-blast.org/), produced by Annandale (Va.) High School students overseen by mentor instructor Alan Weintraut. He has a great situation, and in many ways he's made his own luck.
ReplyDeleteSteve Elliott
Arizona State University
Phoenix
I'm from A-town (Atlanta not Annandale), but I'll be working on my pick up line.
DeleteAndrea, I am so glad to find another small staff! I had six students this year. All seniors, all in the class because they needed two English classes to graduate. Very inspired and motivated. Not. What a struggle. I am looking for some crushes and think we will find them for sure in this group!
ReplyDelete