Heading down the corridor in the junior high lies another facet of Greater Latrobe journalism. The Junior High Post, making its home beyond the corridor, is a product of the plethora of new classes added to the middle school roster, including Law and Order, Shark Tank, Multimedia Broadcast, and plenty more. This is the third year of these class additions.
Junior journalism is open to both students in grades seven and eight. Since seventh-grade students are new to the junior high, they don’t get to pick their electives. However, as they learn more about teachers and interests, they get the opportunity to decide what electives to take in eighth grade.
The Junior High Post can be best described as a sample of what being a staff member on the High Post is like. With trimesters instead of semesters, electives are shorter than in high school. This is a perfect way for seventh and eighth-grade students to get a taste of being a journalist as early teens.
Mrs. Welty, their advisor, previously taught high school and junior high Spanish. Her switch from foreign language to journalism was a big and exciting step. “A change to teaching junior high journalism was refreshing and fun,” Welty says. With a Master’s in Industrial Technology and certification to teach middle school English, Welty’s interests were met perfectly in journalism.
The process of the writing cycle consists of one article or video per week. Welty collects five topics of interest from students on Monday. She picks one from that list for them to write about that week. By Friday, the article is ready for publishing on their online site.
“Sometimes I don’t get the topic I want, but we can request them as many times as we want,” said Bristol Rafferty, a seventh-grade student on the staff. Having that wiggle-room for their story topics adds comfort and stability to their writing as a whole. Enjoying the subject makes the detail flow into the story. Though covering relevant topics is important as a journalist, writing about desired topics is just as important.
“I love it when students are excited about writing their article,” Welty said. Seeing improvement through a teacher’s perspective is very special, she also mentioned. “Seeing improvement in writing over the trimester is also rewarding to me.”
Having the class every day for forty-two minutes gives the staff plenty of time to have their article polished and done. “I use my time by getting my article done by at least Wednesday so I can have some free time,” said Rafferty. Getting ahead makes a student feel productive and accomplished, and creating good habits in middle school can only benefit them in the long run.
“Mrs. Welty lets us listen to music while we work. I get my work done faster with my AirPods in,” said Rafferty. Music gets creativity flowing, and having a teacher who understands that goes hand-in-hand.
Rafferty created stories like a feature on Mrs. Townsend, as well as featuring a friend, Taelyn. She is most proud of her feature on Mrs. Townsend, as she learned about her cookie business and her classroom organization.
As students like Rafferty spend twelve weeks on the staff, they get a taste of publishing, along with telling stories of individuals. They take skills with them, too, like time management and organization. “I thought it would be important ot introduce junior high school students to that world,” Welty mentions. Opening the opportunity earlier to students lets them find their niches and gives them a taste of high school.
By introducing students to journalism at a young age, The Junior High Post allows them to discover their interests, strengthen their voices, and gain confidence in their writing.
