Elective classes are always fun, but there is one that stands out at West: Journalism. Journalism is a seventh-grade semester-long elective that is very educational and very fun. So sixth and seventh grades, if you love to write and you love reading The Bite.org, then sign up for Journalism.    

Besides writing, students learn many skills in journalism. “They learn social skills, “ Mrs. Horvath, Journalism teacher says. Social skills are one of the most important skills to learn. Good social skills can get you promotions and even a job in adult life.  

After articles are published, the website keeps track of the number of people who view each article. The most viewed authors receive a prize, like pizza or donuts, during lunch. 

“They learn organizational skills,” Horvath remarked. These skills can help when you have a lot of things to keep track of. Mrs. Horvath also noted, “They learn planning skills.”  This helps all the time. To get anything done, you need planning skills! Journalism is very beneficial to any student who takes it.

Students also enjoy Journalism.  62.5% of Journalism students enjoy it and 73% would recommend it to others.  Vallyn Rowe-Porchia, a 7th grader, enjoys Journalism because of “free time.”  If you complete an article early, you can get up to a day of free time! Daphne Fisher loves “all of it.”  Ryan Madden “like[s] to draw comics. If writing just isn’t your thing, you can make a comic! Many students also learn a lot: they learn “writing skills”, “interviewing skills”, and “photos.” Most students were assigned randomly to the class, but ended up enjoying it! 

In Journalism, you get to do a lot of fun things.  This is how you write a Journalism article:

1:  First, you think of what your article will be.  You fill out the 5 “w” questions on a worksheet.

2:  You then write down the questions you will ask during the interview. 

3:  You send a POLITE email to your potential interviewee containing your topic, dates, questions, and courtesy.

4:  Interview time!  You interview the person.  Or, if you need multiple responses, you can make a google forms quiz (on google drive) and share it with Mrs. Horvath.

5: You look over the responses you get.

6: You draft your article.

7: You share it with an editor-in-chief and look over their shoulder while they edit it.

8: You’re published!

This may seem scary, but 1 and 2, 4 and 5, and 7 and 8 can all be done next to another in 1 day.  Editors-in-chief are students who are really good at editing writing and they help people with their articles. 

Journalism students also get to read the morning announcements.