by Mel Nogler
I just realized that [we] seniors have 32 more days left of school.
That is so frightening in many ways. This year went by so fast, it’s really scary.
It was like yesterday that I was becoming a freshman into a huge high school.
Sometimes it does hit me knowing that I only have 32 more days to do everything I want.
I know Graduation will be a piece of cake. I just want to pass school. It’s exciting in many ways to think about what you want to do after you get out of high school.
Some choose college; some choose to get a job. The thought of 5 weeks left of school; you try to fit in everything that you can. Because once you’re out of high school there is no turning back and that anxiety comes. It’s a good thing that you’re going to be in the real world, and have a job, a car to support you, but when you live on your own, it’s not easy as you think it is. And college life gets A LOT harder.
What really bothers me is that we seniors have end of the year finals.
Since I do not have a A+ in many of my classes, I still have to take them, which I know its going to be hard.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Fake bomb threats
by Jennifer Bayliss
Why is it that students feel inclined to write fake bomb threats on the lavatory walls? What do they think it will accomplish? Some may think we will be dismissed early: how often has this happened? None. Nien. Nada. If they’re so angsty about their lives, why not go speak to the guidance counselors about their situation or the school adjustment counselor. Don’t write fake threats on the bathroom walls or anywhere else. If anything, we’re stuck in class longer during a Code Yellow, which ultimately disrupts our entire school day. The budget does not allow for such false emergencies, and we can not afford to pay for them each time a student feels the need to write a comment so serious that could possibly endanger the lives of over 900 individuals.
Personally, I am tired of these bomb threats being written. After Silver Lake, where there was such a threat quite often, I found it a relief to be in a school where we had no threat under a false pretence. Being in a room under a Code Yellow for several hours is truly not appealing to me.
I wonder if the students writing the messages are aware of the seriousness of their words. Have they not heard of so many violent school attacks? Are they trying to appear “cool” for having our day disturbed and being locked in a classroom for a good amount of time while the school is searched? Our country’s school systems are now trying to become more conscious of possible events and how to prevent them: is it necessary for a student to test out the school’s protocol theories?
I suppose this is more of a plead then a news post. As a student however, I’m honestly tired of others disrupting our day when there is so little time left in the school year. If you want a day off of school, do the community a favor and just skip or fake an illness. So you’re labeled a truant, but it’s better then disturbing everyone’s learning process.
Why is it that students feel inclined to write fake bomb threats on the lavatory walls? What do they think it will accomplish? Some may think we will be dismissed early: how often has this happened? None. Nien. Nada. If they’re so angsty about their lives, why not go speak to the guidance counselors about their situation or the school adjustment counselor. Don’t write fake threats on the bathroom walls or anywhere else. If anything, we’re stuck in class longer during a Code Yellow, which ultimately disrupts our entire school day. The budget does not allow for such false emergencies, and we can not afford to pay for them each time a student feels the need to write a comment so serious that could possibly endanger the lives of over 900 individuals.
Personally, I am tired of these bomb threats being written. After Silver Lake, where there was such a threat quite often, I found it a relief to be in a school where we had no threat under a false pretence. Being in a room under a Code Yellow for several hours is truly not appealing to me.
I wonder if the students writing the messages are aware of the seriousness of their words. Have they not heard of so many violent school attacks? Are they trying to appear “cool” for having our day disturbed and being locked in a classroom for a good amount of time while the school is searched? Our country’s school systems are now trying to become more conscious of possible events and how to prevent them: is it necessary for a student to test out the school’s protocol theories?
I suppose this is more of a plead then a news post. As a student however, I’m honestly tired of others disrupting our day when there is so little time left in the school year. If you want a day off of school, do the community a favor and just skip or fake an illness. So you’re labeled a truant, but it’s better then disturbing everyone’s learning process.
TV studio deserves consideration
by Lauren Mulkern
When I entered High School, I considered the clubs and activities I would participate. One club that never crossed my mind was the newspaper. Now look at me, I am one of the editors in editorial journalism. I first began participating in the newspaper at the beginning of this year when I was enrolled in intro to journalism. I decided to sign up for this class because there were no other electives that sophomores could take that gave me a small amount of interest. I later found out that Mr. Turley was the teacher of this class. I already knew Mr. Turley because of volleyball. Entering this class I figured that it wouldn’t be my favorite time of the day. Now all I look forward during the day period six journalism. I guess the point of this story is to express the great interest that I now have for communications thanks to Mr. Turley. I know that most likely I won’t be a journalist. I still enjoy participating in the club at school. However, I do have a strong interest communications.
My dream has been to be the next Katie Couric. However, Meredith Vieira came along and stole my dream job. What was she thinking? This has to do with the fact that I want to be a news anchor. While I attended classes at the Columbia Scholastic Press Association I noticed how large my love for this is. I was also informed that we have a T.V. news studio. I got so excited and just thought about how much I could learn if I could take classes using this brand new studio. I attended a class at Columbia that was called “Bringing T.V. Broadcast to Your School”. I figured by the time I am a senior I can get this started. Of course it would take a lot of hard work and dedication but I was up for the challenge.
However, I was just informed that the T.V. news studio was going to be turned into a music room. Being a person who could care less about music, I was livid. However, I did put into consideration that there were other students in the school who did enjoy music. While I was considering this, I remembered that music has its whole section of the building. They have a wonderful auditorium, band/chorus classroom, and a dressing room. What more do they need? What does communications have? Oh ya, we have one tiny news room. Do you see how I can be so upset? I would be extremely happy if this was just a crazy rumor and I could still be able to learn in the T.V. news studio. However, for now I have to prepare myself with the horrific idea that this room will no longer be for T.V. broadcasting. How cool would it be to have morning announcements with people’s faces? I think it would be wonderful.
When I entered High School, I considered the clubs and activities I would participate. One club that never crossed my mind was the newspaper. Now look at me, I am one of the editors in editorial journalism. I first began participating in the newspaper at the beginning of this year when I was enrolled in intro to journalism. I decided to sign up for this class because there were no other electives that sophomores could take that gave me a small amount of interest. I later found out that Mr. Turley was the teacher of this class. I already knew Mr. Turley because of volleyball. Entering this class I figured that it wouldn’t be my favorite time of the day. Now all I look forward during the day period six journalism. I guess the point of this story is to express the great interest that I now have for communications thanks to Mr. Turley. I know that most likely I won’t be a journalist. I still enjoy participating in the club at school. However, I do have a strong interest communications.
My dream has been to be the next Katie Couric. However, Meredith Vieira came along and stole my dream job. What was she thinking? This has to do with the fact that I want to be a news anchor. While I attended classes at the Columbia Scholastic Press Association I noticed how large my love for this is. I was also informed that we have a T.V. news studio. I got so excited and just thought about how much I could learn if I could take classes using this brand new studio. I attended a class at Columbia that was called “Bringing T.V. Broadcast to Your School”. I figured by the time I am a senior I can get this started. Of course it would take a lot of hard work and dedication but I was up for the challenge.
However, I was just informed that the T.V. news studio was going to be turned into a music room. Being a person who could care less about music, I was livid. However, I did put into consideration that there were other students in the school who did enjoy music. While I was considering this, I remembered that music has its whole section of the building. They have a wonderful auditorium, band/chorus classroom, and a dressing room. What more do they need? What does communications have? Oh ya, we have one tiny news room. Do you see how I can be so upset? I would be extremely happy if this was just a crazy rumor and I could still be able to learn in the T.V. news studio. However, for now I have to prepare myself with the horrific idea that this room will no longer be for T.V. broadcasting. How cool would it be to have morning announcements with people’s faces? I think it would be wonderful.
Nicholas Papadopolous
Travel Guide in NYC
During the journalism field trip to New York, we visited many places and saw many sites.
The first thing we did as soon as we got to New York was we went to Columbia University. Columbia is a college with an excellent journalism program and a nice campus. I would recommend anybody who is interested in pursuing a career in journalism seriously consider Columbia University.
After we went to Columbia, we went back to our hotel, the Marrakech. This hotel was below average, as it had small rooms, confusing room locations, and the bare minimums to be called a hotel. However, the hotel was very cheap so if you lack cash and don’t care for comfort, then the Marrakech is right for you.
Later that day, we went to the Olive Garden. This restaurant was very high quality and I recommend it to anybody who doesn’t mind spending $20 a person. The breadsticks and pasta were delicious, and I left there feeling quite satisfied.
After dinner, we walked around Times Square for a while. Nothing truly compares to the flashing lights and gigantic advertisements that you see every few feet. However, I learned quickly that everything you can buy at Times Square costs a lot of money.
My personal favorite place to go in Times Square was the ESPN Zone. This was a four story building with something different on each floor. The ground floor sold shirts, mugs, and other collectibles and it served as a gift shop that any sports fan could enjoy. The second floor was an eating area with big screen, plasma TV’s on the wall. The third floor held the biggest bar I have ever seen, and the bar also consisted of more plasma TV’s. Finally, the fourth floor held a game room which consisted of an air hockey table, basketball hoops, and many other cool games.
After walking around Times Square, we went to the Broadway Show, Hairspray. I was surprised when I actually enjoyed the play. However, the seats were extremely close together and it got swelteringly hot up in the balcony.
When the next day came, I started my morning by eating at Tom’s Restaurant. This small restaurant was made famous by the TV sitcom Seinfeld, and the food was great at a cheap price.
Finally, I couldn’t leave New York without visiting their gift shops. While in them, I noticed that Red Sox fans hate the Yankees a lot more than the Yankee fans hate the Red Sox. Here in Massachusetts, we have a brand of clothing named Yankee Hater, but in New York, there wasn’t one article of clothing hating the Red Sox.
Travel Guide in NYC
During the journalism field trip to New York, we visited many places and saw many sites.
The first thing we did as soon as we got to New York was we went to Columbia University. Columbia is a college with an excellent journalism program and a nice campus. I would recommend anybody who is interested in pursuing a career in journalism seriously consider Columbia University.
After we went to Columbia, we went back to our hotel, the Marrakech. This hotel was below average, as it had small rooms, confusing room locations, and the bare minimums to be called a hotel. However, the hotel was very cheap so if you lack cash and don’t care for comfort, then the Marrakech is right for you.
Later that day, we went to the Olive Garden. This restaurant was very high quality and I recommend it to anybody who doesn’t mind spending $20 a person. The breadsticks and pasta were delicious, and I left there feeling quite satisfied.
After dinner, we walked around Times Square for a while. Nothing truly compares to the flashing lights and gigantic advertisements that you see every few feet. However, I learned quickly that everything you can buy at Times Square costs a lot of money.
My personal favorite place to go in Times Square was the ESPN Zone. This was a four story building with something different on each floor. The ground floor sold shirts, mugs, and other collectibles and it served as a gift shop that any sports fan could enjoy. The second floor was an eating area with big screen, plasma TV’s on the wall. The third floor held the biggest bar I have ever seen, and the bar also consisted of more plasma TV’s. Finally, the fourth floor held a game room which consisted of an air hockey table, basketball hoops, and many other cool games.
After walking around Times Square, we went to the Broadway Show, Hairspray. I was surprised when I actually enjoyed the play. However, the seats were extremely close together and it got swelteringly hot up in the balcony.
When the next day came, I started my morning by eating at Tom’s Restaurant. This small restaurant was made famous by the TV sitcom Seinfeld, and the food was great at a cheap price.
Finally, I couldn’t leave New York without visiting their gift shops. While in them, I noticed that Red Sox fans hate the Yankees a lot more than the Yankee fans hate the Red Sox. Here in Massachusetts, we have a brand of clothing named Yankee Hater, but in New York, there wasn’t one article of clothing hating the Red Sox.
Suggestions for our paper
By Ryan Hennigan
During the seminars at Columbia University I heard a lot of interesting suggestions that I feel we should incorporate into the Pembroke Sentinel. Personally, I tended to attend seminars that were centered on sports, advertisements, and newspaper layouts. I also gained a great deal of information from the opinions of other members of our staff and from reviewing other schools’ newspapers at Columbia.
I will start first with the smaller tweaks and progress towards the larger suggestions. In the sports seminars, I can not even tell you how many times I heard the words “don’t cheerlead” and “do not cover national sports.” This caught Nick and I by surprise as this is what we sometimes tend to do. I realized that I myself tend to use the word ‘fortunately’ or ‘great season’ to an extent and I also have done stories on the Red sox and Nick has done one on the Patriots. What we have is a high school paper and we want to write about our athletes rather than stories covered by professional newspapers. This leads me to another topic; we do cover every sport with our sport shorts, but there at least needs to be a paragraph about each jv and freshman team in there as there is interest in them. Every team for every sport needs to be covered. Another suggestion concerns our athlete of the month story which we are just starting this issue. In this story, it may be a good idea to write a short bit about the athlete’s performance and then a large deal about his life or an unusual event that took place. We should try to find an athlete whose had a mishap (cough Champa) or has persevered through something; just as in our Teacher Feature (sorry about Shultz, she was boring).
I have one main suggestion about our ads and that is that we invoke a one column wide, two inches down ad to attract possibly parents who feel they will not make business from the ad but would like to make a small contribution (ad would cost $10-20). I feel that we should also raise each ad price by perhaps $20 or more. This would bring in more income and hopefully then we could at least put our front page in color which I feel is necessary to attract a larger amount of readers.
I have a few suggestions concerning our page layouts. I saw a lot of papers at the convention and I think that the knicks should run vertically the length of the front page, as it looks more attractive. Also, from other papers, instead of placing pictures at the corners of stories as we have been prone to do; we should place them in the middle of stories and text wrap (I will show examples). Furthermore, there needs to be an arts and entertainment section applied. We do make stories such as artist of the month and play reviews, but they need to be grouped together in one section and we can create more story ideas to fill this section in.
Overall, I feel that these suggestions will increase our income and reader base by a significant amount. And addressing our long battle over featurey or inverted pyramid style leads; I feel featurey is always the way to go. We have a reader base of teenagers with short attention spans and creative imaginations that would enjoy the colorful, attention-grabbing openers.
By Ryan Hennigan
During the seminars at Columbia University I heard a lot of interesting suggestions that I feel we should incorporate into the Pembroke Sentinel. Personally, I tended to attend seminars that were centered on sports, advertisements, and newspaper layouts. I also gained a great deal of information from the opinions of other members of our staff and from reviewing other schools’ newspapers at Columbia.
I will start first with the smaller tweaks and progress towards the larger suggestions. In the sports seminars, I can not even tell you how many times I heard the words “don’t cheerlead” and “do not cover national sports.” This caught Nick and I by surprise as this is what we sometimes tend to do. I realized that I myself tend to use the word ‘fortunately’ or ‘great season’ to an extent and I also have done stories on the Red sox and Nick has done one on the Patriots. What we have is a high school paper and we want to write about our athletes rather than stories covered by professional newspapers. This leads me to another topic; we do cover every sport with our sport shorts, but there at least needs to be a paragraph about each jv and freshman team in there as there is interest in them. Every team for every sport needs to be covered. Another suggestion concerns our athlete of the month story which we are just starting this issue. In this story, it may be a good idea to write a short bit about the athlete’s performance and then a large deal about his life or an unusual event that took place. We should try to find an athlete whose had a mishap (cough Champa) or has persevered through something; just as in our Teacher Feature (sorry about Shultz, she was boring).
I have one main suggestion about our ads and that is that we invoke a one column wide, two inches down ad to attract possibly parents who feel they will not make business from the ad but would like to make a small contribution (ad would cost $10-20). I feel that we should also raise each ad price by perhaps $20 or more. This would bring in more income and hopefully then we could at least put our front page in color which I feel is necessary to attract a larger amount of readers.
I have a few suggestions concerning our page layouts. I saw a lot of papers at the convention and I think that the knicks should run vertically the length of the front page, as it looks more attractive. Also, from other papers, instead of placing pictures at the corners of stories as we have been prone to do; we should place them in the middle of stories and text wrap (I will show examples). Furthermore, there needs to be an arts and entertainment section applied. We do make stories such as artist of the month and play reviews, but they need to be grouped together in one section and we can create more story ideas to fill this section in.
Overall, I feel that these suggestions will increase our income and reader base by a significant amount. And addressing our long battle over featurey or inverted pyramid style leads; I feel featurey is always the way to go. We have a reader base of teenagers with short attention spans and creative imaginations that would enjoy the colorful, attention-grabbing openers.
Nog blog NYC
Melissa Nogler
My Journey of New York City
My experience in New York City on March 14th-16th was simply unforgettable.
It was an ultimate experience for me. I saw a lot in three days. Times Square was like walking into a chocolate store. I felt lost.
As I left my hotel room that morning on Thursday march 15th to go to the Columbia University for my morning sessions, I spotted a lot of homeless Men and Women on the street corners, sidewalks, and most slept by the church doors. They try to make a living off of $1-$20 dollars everyday, as much as they can mooch off of us.
We are the people who wake up everyday and try to make a living by working 60 hours a week, trying to make ends meat. Pay bills, pay rent, mortgage payments, buy clothes, food. It’s not easy to live on your own. That’s why most of today’s society is filled with homeless people.
Also, my opinion of homeless people is that I do not feel bad for their lifestyle, because if they had a good life, and achieved their dreams they would not be stuck in this situation. I noticed that New York was the number 1 spot full of homeless people.
This situation for them is sad in many ways because they cannot afford enough clothes, food, money, a job, a car, a house. My life is not bad compared to theirs.
I wake up every morning grateful that I have a roof over my head, I have food in my house, and I have two jobs that I can go to. I try to survive on my own. It’s not easy living on your own and providing for yourself.
At most times I do feel bad for the homeless men and women who have children. And that child is stuck in a horrible situation. It makes me realize that I do not take like for granted. Maybe sometimes when I do not think, then yes I do. But life is too short to live life this way.
If the homeless had jobs, money or a house they would not be” bums” I would not allow homeless people to live on my side walks, or street corners. I would provide many shelters to help them. They take advantage of us in many ways.
They do not have shelter if it rains or snows; they just get pushed into a corner.
Also at times I spotted homeless men sleeping on the subway, or trying to keep warm, from the harsh weather.
When I saw that they were begging for money or spare change to at least get something to eat, I got really upset because I know I could never wipe away my whole life dreams to be in their situation. I could not live life that way. That’s why I try to make sure what I’m doing is the right thing. I have a head on my shoulders and I know what is right from wrong.
That’s why I need education to help balance out my career. I got to see for myself what its like
to see homeless people in New York.
My Journey of New York City
My experience in New York City on March 14th-16th was simply unforgettable.
It was an ultimate experience for me. I saw a lot in three days. Times Square was like walking into a chocolate store. I felt lost.
As I left my hotel room that morning on Thursday march 15th to go to the Columbia University for my morning sessions, I spotted a lot of homeless Men and Women on the street corners, sidewalks, and most slept by the church doors. They try to make a living off of $1-$20 dollars everyday, as much as they can mooch off of us.
We are the people who wake up everyday and try to make a living by working 60 hours a week, trying to make ends meat. Pay bills, pay rent, mortgage payments, buy clothes, food. It’s not easy to live on your own. That’s why most of today’s society is filled with homeless people.
Also, my opinion of homeless people is that I do not feel bad for their lifestyle, because if they had a good life, and achieved their dreams they would not be stuck in this situation. I noticed that New York was the number 1 spot full of homeless people.
This situation for them is sad in many ways because they cannot afford enough clothes, food, money, a job, a car, a house. My life is not bad compared to theirs.
I wake up every morning grateful that I have a roof over my head, I have food in my house, and I have two jobs that I can go to. I try to survive on my own. It’s not easy living on your own and providing for yourself.
At most times I do feel bad for the homeless men and women who have children. And that child is stuck in a horrible situation. It makes me realize that I do not take like for granted. Maybe sometimes when I do not think, then yes I do. But life is too short to live life this way.
If the homeless had jobs, money or a house they would not be” bums” I would not allow homeless people to live on my side walks, or street corners. I would provide many shelters to help them. They take advantage of us in many ways.
They do not have shelter if it rains or snows; they just get pushed into a corner.
Also at times I spotted homeless men sleeping on the subway, or trying to keep warm, from the harsh weather.
When I saw that they were begging for money or spare change to at least get something to eat, I got really upset because I know I could never wipe away my whole life dreams to be in their situation. I could not live life that way. That’s why I try to make sure what I’m doing is the right thing. I have a head on my shoulders and I know what is right from wrong.
That’s why I need education to help balance out my career. I got to see for myself what its like
to see homeless people in New York.
Monday, March 26, 2007
A Homeless Abundance
by Chelsea Monks
Getting off the subway in New York City there was a man asking for money, one of my classmates, Neal decided he would help him out. While he gladly threw him a ten, I started to think, why is this guy out sitting on the street corner? Later that night getting off of the same subway station the same I saw the same guy asking another one of my classmates for money, he claimed he had aids and he gave him ten dollars too.
The next day I got into an argument with Neal. He claims that when someone is born poor they have extensive disadvantages that keep them from getting jobs and becoming educated, hence they end up in the same position with their children.
My view on this subject is that its not our high or middle class, working citizens responsibility to support those who don’t want to find a job, even if it only pays minimum wage or get an education even if its difficult to obtain. I work hard for my education and my money, why would I give it to those who aren’t working for it when I’m busting my butt? during this long extensive, sunny, snowy rainy three day adventure through the poverty infested streets of New York I’ve found that I have a low tolerance for those who don’t work hard to follow their dreams.
Giving your life up to a bottle or a pipe doesn’t give anyone the right to my sympathy or my money.
Getting off the subway in New York City there was a man asking for money, one of my classmates, Neal decided he would help him out. While he gladly threw him a ten, I started to think, why is this guy out sitting on the street corner? Later that night getting off of the same subway station the same I saw the same guy asking another one of my classmates for money, he claimed he had aids and he gave him ten dollars too.
The next day I got into an argument with Neal. He claims that when someone is born poor they have extensive disadvantages that keep them from getting jobs and becoming educated, hence they end up in the same position with their children.
My view on this subject is that its not our high or middle class, working citizens responsibility to support those who don’t want to find a job, even if it only pays minimum wage or get an education even if its difficult to obtain. I work hard for my education and my money, why would I give it to those who aren’t working for it when I’m busting my butt? during this long extensive, sunny, snowy rainy three day adventure through the poverty infested streets of New York I’ve found that I have a low tolerance for those who don’t work hard to follow their dreams.
Giving your life up to a bottle or a pipe doesn’t give anyone the right to my sympathy or my money.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Canal Street Blog
by Lauren Mulkern
Have you ever thought that you can get three designer bags for only $78? If you went to the real stores and bought the same three bags you would spend roughly around $1200. When I informed my journalism teacher of this information, he almost suffered from a stroke. He now understands why I was so excited when I found out that we were going to Canal Street.
We went down to Canal Street. When I entered the stores, I suddenly became an expert on how to receive a real knockoff.
What is the difference between a real knockoff and a fake knockoff? Well a real knockoff is when the bag looks just like the designer bag and it has a label on it that says the designer. On the other hand, the fake knockoffs only look like the designer bags and they don’t have a label of the designer on it.
However, you do not want to be running around the streets of New York screaming you just go a knockoff Prada bag. This is because this process is illegal. You have to be very careful and whisper when you are trying to get what you want.
How do you receive a bag with the label if it is illegal? You enter the store and approach the store owner. Next, you whisper and ask them if they have the labels. If they say yes you are in luck and you go pick out the bag that you want. After you pick out the bag you want, they secretly place the label on the bag for you. Then they will inform you of the price that they want for the bag and you have to argue with them. I suggest saying that you can go to another store and get it for lower. That almost always works.
I wish you the best of luck and hope you get a great “designer” bag for a reasonable amount of money.
What I learned
By Mary Polleys
On the last day of the trip, fighting exhaustion was an uphill battle. However, the two seminars I attended that morning were more than entertaining enough to keep me awake.
Both seminars were given by Jeff Nardone, a successful adviser for The Tower, a weekly newspaper at Grosse Pointe South High School.
The first seminar, entitled “Motivation is not a dirty word,” included many ideas I thought would be helpful for The Sentinel.
How do you get people to meet deadline? Since we are kids after all, a reward system is a good way to motivate us to get stories in by deadline.
How do you improve readership of the paper? We could try holding monthly coffee houses. The key is to make it fun for both the staff and the readers. As high school students, we are way more apt to do something if there is an element of fun. Maybe it shouldn’t be that way, but it is, and adjusting to that has made a weekly publication possible for them. Aside from his good ideas, Jeff Nardone was the best speaker I listened to because he wasn’t afraid to talk about or tell jokes about uncomfortable things.
For example, during the second seminar, entitle “The best dang sports pages ever,” he talked about a feature story exploring the difference between men and women athletes.
At one point, he started talking about how the number of knee injuries in women increase when they are menstruating. I think the second we heard the word menstruate we all woke up a little and paid attention to why he was mentioning such a thing. Because he is a high school teacher, Nardone’s jokes related to us more than the other speakers.
In his second seminar, I learned a lot about adjusting sports pages for a monthly publication. He thinks, like I do, that sports shorts should be a run down of up-to-date statistics because most of the time by the time the stories come out, the facts included are old. Sports feature stories are a good way to have information important to high school students and it doesn’t go stale as fast, like the story about knee injuries.
Overall, I found that I got the most from the last two seminars , but at least learned one useful thing from each seminar I went to. Even the one Neal dragged me into, “Covering the local government,” I learned that the newspaper reaching out to parents as tax payers is important.
I also learned that to break into writing about the government, you may want to start with what Mays called “softball” stories to get to know the leaders in government and they can get to know you.
By Mary Polleys
On the last day of the trip, fighting exhaustion was an uphill battle. However, the two seminars I attended that morning were more than entertaining enough to keep me awake.
Both seminars were given by Jeff Nardone, a successful adviser for The Tower, a weekly newspaper at Grosse Pointe South High School.
The first seminar, entitled “Motivation is not a dirty word,” included many ideas I thought would be helpful for The Sentinel.
How do you get people to meet deadline? Since we are kids after all, a reward system is a good way to motivate us to get stories in by deadline.
How do you improve readership of the paper? We could try holding monthly coffee houses. The key is to make it fun for both the staff and the readers. As high school students, we are way more apt to do something if there is an element of fun. Maybe it shouldn’t be that way, but it is, and adjusting to that has made a weekly publication possible for them. Aside from his good ideas, Jeff Nardone was the best speaker I listened to because he wasn’t afraid to talk about or tell jokes about uncomfortable things.
For example, during the second seminar, entitle “The best dang sports pages ever,” he talked about a feature story exploring the difference between men and women athletes.
At one point, he started talking about how the number of knee injuries in women increase when they are menstruating. I think the second we heard the word menstruate we all woke up a little and paid attention to why he was mentioning such a thing. Because he is a high school teacher, Nardone’s jokes related to us more than the other speakers.
In his second seminar, I learned a lot about adjusting sports pages for a monthly publication. He thinks, like I do, that sports shorts should be a run down of up-to-date statistics because most of the time by the time the stories come out, the facts included are old. Sports feature stories are a good way to have information important to high school students and it doesn’t go stale as fast, like the story about knee injuries.
Overall, I found that I got the most from the last two seminars , but at least learned one useful thing from each seminar I went to. Even the one Neal dragged me into, “Covering the local government,” I learned that the newspaper reaching out to parents as tax payers is important.
I also learned that to break into writing about the government, you may want to start with what Mays called “softball” stories to get to know the leaders in government and they can get to know you.
NYC Travelogue
By Jen Bayliss
Wednesday morning I woke up at three, having to be at the school to meet everyone by quarter past four. We were due to leave the school by half past, however one person was late, but it was not a big deal. We arrived at Logan Airport a bit after five or so, and waited a bit for Mr. Trudeau to organize our tickets.
We finally got to the security checkpoints. We had to remove cameras, cell phones, iPods/MP3 players - anything metal from our bags. We were only allowed to bring one carry-on bag, to avoid checking our belongings. We also had to remove our shoes and jackets. I nearly lost my scarf in the mess of trying to handle everything. I was quite surprised the security people did not go through my bag, seeing as I had an umbrella in there. They checked some of my schoolmates’ bags, Ryan Hennigan even had all his toiletries confiscated, even his toothbrush. That was odd.
We got on the plane and sat on the runway for a while. I shall admit, I was frightened. After take-off, I took some pictures of the sunrise as it began to show. Overall, it was a nice flight, though there were some funny noises [imagine me gripping the armrests for dear life at those times]. After landing at JFK, we waited around a bit, then headed off to the hotel in airport-rented vans.
The Marrakech hotel was rather dark and sketchy, and I fell up the stairs a few times. Typical me. Our rooms were not ready so we sat around the lobby for a while. Headed off to Columbia University for our sessions. Attended three lessons before lunch, then went to a local deli. Of course on the way back from lunch, one of our classmates nearly got hit by a cab. Neal Meyer [who’s headed off to Harvard this upcoming fall] began to walk across the busy intersection when the “Don’t Walk” sign was displayed. Of course, common sense has nothing to do with academic intelligence [sorry Neal!]. As one can imagine, when you walk into a busy intersection, you must dodge a few cars and cabs to make it safely across. Hence, Neal skipped to the centre median after nearly being hit by not only a SUV, but a New York City cab as well. You can not put a country boy in the city, I tell thee. After lunch, we had one class left, then we went back to the hotel and changed into nicer clothes. We took the subway to Times Square, the journalism class went to the Olive Garden for dinner, then walked around Times Square. Did some window shopping and such after eating around Times Square local shops.
All of us attended a Broadway showing of Hairspray at eight. It was quite funny. Many sexual innuendos every other line. The man playing the main character’s mother was hysterical; he and the man playing his husband began to laugh onstage because of the audience’s reactions. I’d definitely see it again if I got another cheap ticket - we only paid $35 for them. It’s times like these where connections are most appreciated. After the show, we walked around a bit more [Mr. Trudeau obviously trying to wear us out] and went past Radio City Hall and stopped at Rockefeller Centre. Rockefeller was very lovely; the lights above the statue were gorgeous. Walking back to the subway, we went past the famous Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, which was gorgeous with it’s many spires stretching towards the heavens. We took the subway back to the hotel and basically no one slept, as some were running around the mysterious hotel. It was like a maze! I, of course, stayed in the hotel room with two mates who quickly fell asleep. Our room was already a mess of clothes by this time.
Thursday we woke up and headed out to Columbia University for the first session at nine. I attended a Photoshop class which was very interesting [hopefully I learned something] then skipped second session to get the breakfast. I tend to not be a morning person after going to bed late. Mel Nogler and I ventured out and got a bagel and Snapple [my first Snapple ever!] instead. I enjoyed the Snapple too, that’s rather important. She and I attended more classes until lunch, and then hung out about the library for the rest of break. Last class attended, we returned to the hotel and it was slightly raining by that time. Fortunately I had my handy heart-printed umbrella! We headed out to Ground Zero afterwards and the American Express memorial for the eleven employees inside that building. The American Express memorial was touching, with “tear drops” falling into each name of the person who died.
Afterwards, we broke into groups, most people went to Times Square where we would meet at half past ten… and it was only around half past five in the evening… I wonder what they were doing that whole time. I personally went to Canal Street with Lauren Mulkern, Chelsey Monks, and Katie Jochems. We met Katie’s Godmother along Canal Street. She was actually a New York detective who had just gotten off work and still had her gun on her hip in the holster. As long as we stayed close, no one would be able to mess with us. Of course it was pouring rain, but hey, I had my umbrella!
We were treated to Starbuck’s by Katie‘s Godmother. Their cocoa is delicious! It even had a vanilla flavoring added to it, with lots of whipped cream. However, we were shocked there was no Dunkin’ Donuts in New York - I only saw one! We continued our shopping until half past seven, then we were driven back to the hotel, passing through Greenwich Village, to drop our things off. Then Katie’s godmother brought us back to Times Square where we saw a few of our guy classmates, Jim Hutchinson, Steve Hughes, and Russell Brandi walking across the road. We jumped out with them and stayed with them for the night. [Girls were not allowed out unless they had a guy or two with them.] We went to a few shops and M&M World! Five floors of everything M&M related! Adoring M&MS, I nearly died. We met up with two more guys from our group, Ryan Hennigan and Nick [Papadopoulos??], so our group grew to nine.
We decided to go back to the hotel early, seeing as it was pouring rain, so we called Mr. Turley saying we were heading back in a large group. But! Of course we couldn’t find the correct subway! We could only find the downtown subways, when we needed uptown! Hutch actually gave Katie, who had a broken toe, a piggy-back ride through several blocks. Finding the correct subway us ages until we finally got on the right one, well two, seeing as we had to switch trains. We called Mr. Turley again, and everyone else was already back at the hotel. We were on the train and were jested about because of our Red Sox gear and accents. We even saw rats in the subway! It may seem disgusting [which it was] but you haven’t been to New York unless you’ve seen rats along the subway lines! We finally got back and we stayed in each other’s rooms until about midnight. We even had a formal noise complaint lodged against us!
Friday, it was snowing and our flight home in the afternoon was already cancelled first thing in the morning. We were sent to our final two sessions at Columbia and came back in the snowy-rainy mix to pack our things. We were now taking Amtrak home, our train leaving at one. The weather was already worsening and not pleasant to even walk the ten yards through to the subway station. The weather became even worse, heavy snow falling, so of course, so it took ages to get home.
The ride on the train was nice, even though it was more than five hours long. I certainly enjoyed the train ride home compared to the flight. I didn’t have the urge to grip the armrests for my life which was lovely. I finished my book and got mocked for reading Anne Brontë by Mr. Turley, praised by Ms. Connolly. I listened to music on my MP3 player, then when Andrew Kulik, whom I was sitting with woke, we chatted whole we crossed Rhode Island. Such a wee state. Got off the train and got picked up by the school bus and took about two hours to get home. The weather was so horrid, driving conditions even worse. We saw one car nearly get hit by a train. That would have been a site in itself. I think by the time we arrived back at the high school, we were all ready to go home and go to bed.
by Kerry Richards
Although many people scoffed that the Pembroke Sentinel trip to New York was merely an excuse to go to New York, it turned out to be far more helpful to the paper then anyone could have anticipated. The classes offered seemed as though they could be pointless and a mere waste of time. However, the classes were all taught by people who were genuinely interested and knowledgeable about their topic. Despite the fact that some of the instructors were borderline insane, they all knew what they were doing. Most seemed passionate about the field of journalism and wanted to pass this on to their students.
This conference was not merely a conference about writing, we learned about all aspects of newspapers, from advertising to designing to having fun and being productive. We acquired the tools to transform the current paper into something so much better. We learned all the basic, stupid little mistakes we were making. The Columbia Scholastic Press Association taught us how to recruit people for our staff and how to keep our staff content. We learned the importance of standing heads and how to attract readers with a visually interesting design.
As you can notice from our blog, we have chosen to start to shift to an online format as well. Apparently, more people will read this and it will draw interest to the paper. We can post stories before they get stale. It will be a better way to make the paper more of an attraction to our school.
Many changes are coming to the Pembroke Sentinel as a result of this conference. Layout changes and level of writing quality are going to improve the paper and make it so much more.
Although many people scoffed that the Pembroke Sentinel trip to New York was merely an excuse to go to New York, it turned out to be far more helpful to the paper then anyone could have anticipated. The classes offered seemed as though they could be pointless and a mere waste of time. However, the classes were all taught by people who were genuinely interested and knowledgeable about their topic. Despite the fact that some of the instructors were borderline insane, they all knew what they were doing. Most seemed passionate about the field of journalism and wanted to pass this on to their students.
This conference was not merely a conference about writing, we learned about all aspects of newspapers, from advertising to designing to having fun and being productive. We acquired the tools to transform the current paper into something so much better. We learned all the basic, stupid little mistakes we were making. The Columbia Scholastic Press Association taught us how to recruit people for our staff and how to keep our staff content. We learned the importance of standing heads and how to attract readers with a visually interesting design.
As you can notice from our blog, we have chosen to start to shift to an online format as well. Apparently, more people will read this and it will draw interest to the paper. We can post stories before they get stale. It will be a better way to make the paper more of an attraction to our school.
Many changes are coming to the Pembroke Sentinel as a result of this conference. Layout changes and level of writing quality are going to improve the paper and make it so much more.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
NYC Quote blog
by Katie Jochems
Ney York City. An absolutely amazing trip easily summarized by the following quotes:
- “I find myself sitting and crying on the couch sometimes screaming ‘If I could only have a life.’” – Presenter Courtney Hazlett
- “It was the best thing to happen to me since the day I watched the OJ Simpson trial.” – Presenter Courtney Hazlett
- “Once and awhile a stray cow wanders by, so we shoot it and eat it.” – Presenter Gary Clites
- “If you take a survey about sexual activity in the cafeteria, 100% of the boys say yes and 100% of the girls say no, which then leads to some speculation.” – Presenter Gary Clites
- “Everybody in this room is going to go to college, except that boy [pointing to a small, helpless kid sitting by himself].” – Presenter Gary Clites
- “There are no wrong answers, don’t be shy… [kid gives answer]…no that’s not right at all.” – Presenter Helen Smith
- “HEY! Don’t touch those; they are my special class notes.” – Presenter Helen Smith
- “If you ever tell Dan Rathers this, I will personally hunt you down and kill you.”
– Presenter Marcy McGinnis
- “So I walked in and took the test, and I passed of course. Why? Because I’m brilliant; smarter than anyone else taking that test.” – Presenter Marcy McGinnis
- “This museum was so proud to have the type writer that Mathews used. It’s a shame that they were just plain stupid and didn’t figure out that he never used or even seen that type writer before.” – Presenter Anthony DePalma
- “So I’m sitting there on the train with my wife watching another man with his girlfriend thinking ‘he sure ain’t gunna get any tonight.’” – Presenter Jeff Nardone
- “You know that law where it makes schools have every sport both for boys and girls, well my doctor says that’s the best thing that ever happened to him and his practice, girls get hurt all the time.” – Presenter Jeff Nardone
- “Try to stay away from small news staff because you all hang out together and pretty soon you’re going to be dating one another, then you’ll break up, and its just awkward. Girls in back stop laughing.” – Presenter Jeff Nardone
- “ ‘Hamilton – No Running, No Playing Loud Music, No Disrupting the Peace’ ‘Hamilton is like the Nazi building of Columbia.’” – Lina DeCristofaro
- “Is that guy allowed to smoke his bong in public like that?” – Lina DeCristofaro
- “That play was just…pervertedly perverted.” – Ryan Hennigan
As you can see, New York was filled with intelligent lectures. I have never laughed…er… I mean learned so much in my life.
Ney York City. An absolutely amazing trip easily summarized by the following quotes:
- “I find myself sitting and crying on the couch sometimes screaming ‘If I could only have a life.’” – Presenter Courtney Hazlett
- “It was the best thing to happen to me since the day I watched the OJ Simpson trial.” – Presenter Courtney Hazlett
- “Once and awhile a stray cow wanders by, so we shoot it and eat it.” – Presenter Gary Clites
- “If you take a survey about sexual activity in the cafeteria, 100% of the boys say yes and 100% of the girls say no, which then leads to some speculation.” – Presenter Gary Clites
- “Everybody in this room is going to go to college, except that boy [pointing to a small, helpless kid sitting by himself].” – Presenter Gary Clites
- “There are no wrong answers, don’t be shy… [kid gives answer]…no that’s not right at all.” – Presenter Helen Smith
- “HEY! Don’t touch those; they are my special class notes.” – Presenter Helen Smith
- “If you ever tell Dan Rathers this, I will personally hunt you down and kill you.”
– Presenter Marcy McGinnis
- “So I walked in and took the test, and I passed of course. Why? Because I’m brilliant; smarter than anyone else taking that test.” – Presenter Marcy McGinnis
- “This museum was so proud to have the type writer that Mathews used. It’s a shame that they were just plain stupid and didn’t figure out that he never used or even seen that type writer before.” – Presenter Anthony DePalma
- “So I’m sitting there on the train with my wife watching another man with his girlfriend thinking ‘he sure ain’t gunna get any tonight.’” – Presenter Jeff Nardone
- “You know that law where it makes schools have every sport both for boys and girls, well my doctor says that’s the best thing that ever happened to him and his practice, girls get hurt all the time.” – Presenter Jeff Nardone
- “Try to stay away from small news staff because you all hang out together and pretty soon you’re going to be dating one another, then you’ll break up, and its just awkward. Girls in back stop laughing.” – Presenter Jeff Nardone
- “ ‘Hamilton – No Running, No Playing Loud Music, No Disrupting the Peace’ ‘Hamilton is like the Nazi building of Columbia.’” – Lina DeCristofaro
- “Is that guy allowed to smoke his bong in public like that?” – Lina DeCristofaro
- “That play was just…pervertedly perverted.” – Ryan Hennigan
As you can see, New York was filled with intelligent lectures. I have never laughed…er… I mean learned so much in my life.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)