News Gathering and Literacy

Yearbook 2017-2018

When I was working on the Fall Sports Recap spread I wanted to get as many sources as I could. I tried to get people in different positions on the team and different grades.

Interviews for Fall Sports Recap

Bryan Chapman – Soccer, center attack mid

Q: What was the dynamic of the team? Did it change from regular season to when you started practicing for playoff games?

A: Our dynamic was not the best during most of the regular season because we were very uptight and hard on each other. A couple games before the playoffs started, we turned to more of a fun and relaxed dynamic and it helped our play exponentially.

Ben Walker – Soccer, left wing

Q: How do you think your season went?

A: Overall, our season didn’t go as planned with the team not winning too many games, but we played well, fought through it and had a lot of fun along the way.

Erika Isaacson – Volleyball, left side striker

Q: What was the dynamic of the team? Did it change from regular season to when you started practicing for playoff games?

A: The dynamic was good during the regular season, but we all had our moments with being on “our own islands.” As we went into playoffs we knew we had to come together and push each other to reach our goal of going to state and we did that. As first round playoffs started, we had more team bonding and that caused us to have a strong bond and be a bigger family through playoffs.

Ellie Snook – Volleyball, libero

Q: What was your favorite thing about this season?

A: Probably getting to go to state. That was really fun and it’s been a long time since West Linn had made it that far, so that was probably the best part of the season.

 

WLHSnow 2017-2018

I have also put statistics into my articles in order to give perspective to the reader in relation to the topic. Important statistics can draw the reader in and make them more interested in the rest of the article. In the video that I made to supplement the article, I decided to use statistics in order to emphasise the severity of the topic.

Shaking the Stigma
Teen Advisory Board Brings Drug and Alcohol Awareness to the Community.

Statistics show that people who have their first drink or start smoking by the age of 14 are six times more likely to become addicted than those who wait until they’re 21.

January 22-26 is National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week in the City of West Linn. Mayor Russ Axelrod wrote and approved a proclamation addressing the week and the importance of educating people about the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol, which will also be supported by the school district.

English 12 students reflected on the importance of substance abuse for their final project after reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

According to the Treatment Center, Oregon has been ranked 49th in health and addiction treatment and it is ranked sixth in the nation for drug and alcohol addiction. The percentage of teenage drug use within the state, Oregon is ranked fourth nationally.

West Linn High School has involved students through the Teen Advisory Board (TAB), which is a branch of Community Living Above, a city-wide organization formed to raise awareness, designed for youth to educate themselves and their peers. Pam Pearce, TAB advisor, has encouraged students to educate themselves in order to help them make smarter and informed choices.

“You have to learn the tools, you have to educate yourself,” Pearce said. “It’s the only thing that can protect you from this disease and not give in to peer pressure.”

If you want to help spread awareness, attend the TAB meetings once a month in the forum and help to shake the stigma.

Yearbook 2016-2017

Cross Country Module – Run Along; Sing Along

I wrote the questions before I arrived at the meet and I had identified and contacted a few of the runners to ask them for an interview at the meet.

I asked the following questions to each runner:

  1. Why did you join cross country?
  2. What do you enjoy about cross country?
  3. How long have you done cross country?
  4. Do you feel that you have grown this year as an athlete? Why or why not?
  5. Do you feel that the team has grown this year as athletes? More successful or not?
  6. What do you like to do while preparing for a meet?

I took each of their answers and wrote them down so I could choose the best quotes as well as see if there were any overlaps in their answers. This is how Andrew Walker answered the questions:

  1. I joined cross country because I love running and it is so much fun to me. I did it all throughout middle school and I loved it so much and I wanted to continue my passion for running in high school.
  2. The cross country team has so much positivity and the coaches are fantastic. The one thing that I love about cross country the most is that it is an individual and a team sport and that is very unique. I just love being part of the team.
  3. I first joined cross country when I was in the 6th grade, and I was about 12 years old. I found my joy in running before 6th grade and that is what made me join cross country.
  4. I feel like I’ve grown a lot.
  5. I feel like our team has grown this year. At our meet Wednesday [9/21/16] West Linn won and more than half of our team got personal records.
  6. When a meet is coming up, I usually stay hydrated days before the race and eat healthy foods. I always listen to music to get me focused and prepared.

Dylan and Emily also answered some of the questions similarly to Andrew. All three runners said that they are healthy and listened to music to focus, as well as that they thought cross country was a unique sport. I put all of their interviews together to write the story and I pulled the best quotes from each of them.

Final Copy:

With the pre-meet ritual of blasting music and dancing from the tent, the Cross Country team does everything together. “One thing I love most about Cross Country is that it’s an individual and a team sport, and that is very unique. I just love being part of the team,” Andrew Walker, 9 said.
The interacton of the team is also a reason that many people come out for Cross Country.
“I’ve always wanted to do cross country but I’ve had leg problems,” Emily Craddock, 11 explained. “I decided to do it this year because my friends were doing it and I wanted to try it out.”
The dedication that comes out of the team has really shown this year. The team has improved a lot as a whole, and many individuals are consistantly getting faster times.
Photos and story by Emily Martin.