MEET THE PRESS
About a dozen Metro students gather after school every week in Mrs. Kennedy’s Language Arts classroom to learn about writing, editing, interviewing and responsible reporting. They have been participating in discussions and in activities such as interviews and mock press conferences.
The Journalism Club (known around here as J-Club) is sponsored by Battelle, and was designed by professional journalists who are excited to share their knowledge and experience with students who have displayed a promising enthusiasm for investigating, communicating and reporting on events, issues and people in the world around them.
Battelle World’s editor, Melissa Fiala, has planned the meetings and activities along with Liz Thompson, a former reporter, author and former Battelle staff member and Aimee Kennedy, Metro Language Arts teacher. Battelle volunteers Harriet Craig, Molly Ray and Megan D’Angelo attend weekly to help out too.
Already, J-Club has met reporters from Suburban News Publications (SNP), the Columbus Dispatch and Business First. Students were given the opportunity to ask questions about the duties and lifestyles of journalists. They have learned quickly to get to the heart of what they really want to know, such as “Do reporters make a lot of money?” (Answer: “Nope!”)
A recent field trip to SNP gave students a chance to meet Editor Joe Meyer and visit a working newsroom with reporters abuzz collecting information from telephone sources, a working printing press (complete with a “stop the presses!” button) and graphic designers building advertisements and laying out newspaper pages.
Soon the club members will begin to cover their own stories and write for a school newsletter. They seem very anxious to see their bylines on actual articles in print. I can’t wait to see them too!
-- Posted October 9, 2007 --
Diana Wolterman is on a two-year special assignment to Metro High School, where she will play a key role in furthering the collaboration between the private sector and education, including special projects to connect Battelle staff with the activities in the school, assisting with tours and visits, developing and implementing new experience-based curriculum support, and helping to document the process of creating a new STEM-focused learning experience. Diana also will document Battelle’s successes and missteps at Metro to help the organization learn from the experience and make good decisions going forward at Metro and in other educational activities.