Zack Anderson, senior
Sports Editor for the Live Wire

Q: Why did you join journalism?

A: I joined journalism because Mrs. Cunningham heavily recruited me because of my writing abilities.

Q: What are your favorite parts of being on staff?

A: My favorite parts of being on staff are the special things I get to do with being on staff. Also, [my favorite] classes [are] when we just talk and get to know each other.

Q: How long have you been a part of the journalism program?

A: I have been on staff for 2 years.

Q: What leadership/social/writing skills have you gained?

A: I have learned how to be a leader in a classroom setting. I also have learned a lot of social skills with having to interview and meeting people along the way.

Q: What was your favorite project you have done in journalism? Why?

A: My favorite project I have done is going to the volleyball state tournament and getting to be on the floor by the team and game. It was a really cool experience to be able to be that close to the game and meeting media people from the area.

Q: How would you describe the environment and workload?

A: The environment is very laid back for the most part. and the workload is very manageable since the classes are mostly all workdays.

Q: Why do you think students should join journalism? What are some benefits?

A: Students should really join journalism because it is a really good way to get involvement in the school. It is also a really good way to get to know people in the school and the community. And Mrs. Cunningham is the best!

Danielle Petersen, sophomore
Yearbook Staff Member

Q: Why did you join journalism?

A: I joined journalism because I wanted to be a reporter at the start of freshman year, and when I entered the program, my perspective changed into really falling in love with photography and taking action shots of sports and people’s reactions to happy news.

Q: What are your favorite parts of being on staff?

A: My favorite part of being a part of the yearbook is the communication in the room and being able to help each other in some areas where I might not be strong at writing captions, but senior Lauren De Young is, so she could help me, and I could help others with editing photos or getting quotes if someone needs them. The team really wouldn’t work without everyone’s strengths and weaknesses on the team. I also really like the yearbook because I get to make a book with a bunch of really cool people that the students will look back on 10-20 years from now and talk about what happened in this crazy year.

Q: How long have you been a part of the journalism program?

A: I joined journalism my freshmen year, I went into Foundations of Journalism, and now I joined the yearbook my sophomore year.

Q: What leadership/social/writing skills have you gained?

A: Since I joined the yearbook [staff], my communication skills and getting myself out there to talk to other people to get quotes have improved.

Q: What was your favorite project you have done in journalism? Why?

A: My favorite spread I have done was my first one. It was the softball page of this 2020-2021 yearbook. It was my favorite because I didn’t get to go through the yearbook part in Foundations of Journalism my freshman year because of Covid, and doing a page for the first time made me feel excited to accomplish more and do more pages of the yearbook.

Q: How would you describe the environment and workload?

A: The environment of the yearbook staff is very chill. We are all kind of doing our own spreads and talking when we need help in a subject we might not be the strongest at. I think the workload is good, but it can get rough if you get behind by a spread and then you have to work on two spreads at once.

Q: Why do you think students should join journalism? What are some benefits?

A: I think students should join journalism because you might get something out of it that you didn’t expect. For me, I didn’t think my communication skills would go up, but they did, and you can get new experiences by maybe going to more sports games to take pictures or meeting new people! You benefit from joining journalism because you get to meet new people and get to experience new things.

Abby Stapleton, sophomore
Foundations of Journalism Student

Q: Why did you join journalism?

A: I joined journalism because I was passionate about joining the newspaper or yearbook staff.

Q: Which staff do you plan on going to and why?

A: I’m still deciding which staff, but I have found parts of both that I really enjoy!

Q: What leadership/social/writing skills have you gained?

A: I’ve learned how to ask effective questions in an interview and how to converse freely with people I’m interviewing.

Q: What was your favorite project you have done in journalism? Why?

A: My favorite projects to date were designing our own yearbook spread and writing a feature article on a classmate. I’m really looking forward to our upcoming podcast unit!

Q: How would you describe the environment and workload?

A: Mrs Cunningham has the best classroom environment by far. It’s accepting and enjoyable. It’s also one of the most fun classes I’ve been in content wise. I was able to discover things that I didn’t know I enjoyed. The workload is a fair amount, it is never too busy with work but rather meaningful content.

Q: Why do you think students should join journalism? What are some benefits?

A: I think it’s a good way to express yourself, and having Mrs. Cunningham as a teacher is a huge benefit! The classroom is a wonderful environment for everyone and she teaches real-world-applicable content.

Interested in giving journalism a try? Email Mrs. Cunningham at [email protected] find out more information. We are looking for students for the 2021-2022 school year for foundations of journalism, yearbook, newspaper, and broadcasting. If you are a skilled writer, good with technology, interested in photography, or graphic design, journalism is perfect for you!