Sunday, October 11, 2009
Spokesman fun
Steve and I were talking today about Spokesman as we were driving to a friend's get together. I was telling him about my plan to take Jack to school with me to help Spokesman/Lair decorate the hallway for Homecoming. His quote that prompted this blog - "You've got really good kids this year." Yes, I do.
Now, before any of the Spokesman Alum who read this blog get offended, I have great kids every year, there's no question. What makes this year's staff stand out is the fun they are having beyond just publishing the paper.
Here's a sample:
This video is from our UofI Press Day fieldtrip at the end of September. All but three staffers went (and those three wanted to go but had scheduling conflicts).
They hand out with each other on the weekends. They send fun-loving messages back and forth through Facebook and Twitter (and maybe other ways too, but I don't see everything). They laugh, they support one another even with stuff outside of Spokesman, like work and hard classes and crazy relationships.
My heart warms every day when the Spokesman periods start (there are basically three this year). I look forward to layout, pasteup, and fieldtrips because I get to hang out with these fun, smart, talented people.
Oh yeah, and they are doing some incredible work too. This week the Focus section moved forward on their plans to report on pregnancy at school (both teen and teacher). The web site has been updated regularly since the beginning of the school year. And this week they learned how to post slideshows and to get all sections of the web site populated with stories.
We still have to get our T-shirts printed. But if that's the one thing we're falling behind on, I'm alright with it.
It's a three day weekend, and the only reason I am sad that we don't have school on Monday is that I don't get to see my Spokesman kids. Oh wait, we're going in to decorate for Homecoming. Nevermind, life is good.
Now, before any of the Spokesman Alum who read this blog get offended, I have great kids every year, there's no question. What makes this year's staff stand out is the fun they are having beyond just publishing the paper.
Here's a sample:
This video is from our UofI Press Day fieldtrip at the end of September. All but three staffers went (and those three wanted to go but had scheduling conflicts).
They hand out with each other on the weekends. They send fun-loving messages back and forth through Facebook and Twitter (and maybe other ways too, but I don't see everything). They laugh, they support one another even with stuff outside of Spokesman, like work and hard classes and crazy relationships.
My heart warms every day when the Spokesman periods start (there are basically three this year). I look forward to layout, pasteup, and fieldtrips because I get to hang out with these fun, smart, talented people.
Oh yeah, and they are doing some incredible work too. This week the Focus section moved forward on their plans to report on pregnancy at school (both teen and teacher). The web site has been updated regularly since the beginning of the school year. And this week they learned how to post slideshows and to get all sections of the web site populated with stories.
We still have to get our T-shirts printed. But if that's the one thing we're falling behind on, I'm alright with it.
It's a three day weekend, and the only reason I am sad that we don't have school on Monday is that I don't get to see my Spokesman kids. Oh wait, we're going in to decorate for Homecoming. Nevermind, life is good.
