Ayla Barton-Clubs and Lifestyle
I am a writer for the Club's and Lifestyle section. I write stories that spotlight people in their sports and also things that are relevant to Redwood High School. I have learned more social skills and how to construct good questions to make the interviewing process easier on myself. My work is important because I get to tell stories about people who are good at what they do and I can share that with everyone. I am proud that I get to talk to people about what they are passionate about and learn more about it myself and then produced a story about it possible helping others find what they are passionate about.
Semester 1 Stories
Varsity Water-Polo Captains reflect on their roles as the season arises.
This is a story I wrote for this year's water polo captains. I focused on telling the girls co-captains story, and how they had been preparing for this season and motivating the team for a great season to come. This story shows my ability to conduct a good interview. I was able to get a lot of information about the girls to compose into a story.
This story matters because it shines light on good water polo players that get the chance to become captains. It informs readers of the new leaders and role models who play water polo. It impacts the water polo community to help bring more attention to their sport and to get more readers to go and support water polo.
Blocking the Shots while taking a Shot: Meet the 22-23 Varsity Girls Water Polo Goalies.
This is a story I wrote spotlighting the girls varsity water polo goalies. It tells their back story and how they got involved in water polo the challenges they are facing and the positive skills they have learned. This shows good reporting skills. When writing this story it was hard to get interviews because of conflicting schedules. But I was able to make due with what I had and compose a story out of it.
This story matters because it tells the story of two fairly new water polo players. It informs the readers about the people in the water taking the shots and blocking them. It impacts the water polo team to help shine light on their sport and get more people out to watch them play.
Thanksgiving Break ignites Traditions for Rangers this Holiday Season.
This is a story I wrote about our week-long Thanksgiving break. This story is getting to know some of our Rangers and hearing the way they spend their breaks and their family traditions for the holidays. This shows good examples of interviewing because I was able to have an actual conversation with them and learn about their traditions.
This story matters because it is sharing the traditions that people love and cherish. It informs people of the holidays and traditions that others celebrate. It impacts the community of Redwood High School allowing others to express their excitement about the break and holidays. It impacts our reader community by letting others compare traditions and feel that they are a part of a tradition by reading the story if they don't have one.
Exchange Students Exchange Perspectives with the Redwood Community.
This is a story I created to tell the experience and the struggles of being and exchange student in the US. This story is about spotlighting Mati Aveta and sharing how her travel has been coming to California from Italy. This story shows good writing because I was able to take the quotes I have and turn it into a story going into depth about different ways of living between the two countries.
This story matters because lots of people haven't been out of the country so by telling this story everyone is able to learn more about a new country and a person. It informs people of the different ways of living and how nice it can be to get a fresh start. It impacts the foreign exchange students and everyone around by elaborating more on them but it is able for others to learn fun facts about them and their country. It impacts our readers by allowing them to know and understand great people and their backgrounds and things they are facing to be where they are right now.
Semester 2 Stories
Brooklyn Burch is "escstatic" for "Bye Bye Birdie" role as Mrs. Mae Patterson
This is a story I created to share the story of some of the roles for the Spring Musical “Bye Bye Birdie.” This story is specifically spotlighting Brooklyn Burch and her role as Mrs. Mae Patterson, and sharing her personal opinions about the show and how she has begun to prepare for it. This shows good writing skills because when I got the story assignment I only had a weekend to put the story together, even with that I was still able to get answers from her and compose a story.
This story matters because not everyone could go to the musical, by creating stories about specific people in the musical others can learn about them and about their performance. It also allows the lead to feel special and allow others to learn about them and want to see them act in the musical. It impacts the people in drama and in the musical that work so hard to put a show together because it puts spotlight on them letting everyone else know about them to hopefully get them to go and watch the musical. It impacts our readers because they are learning important things about our lead roles and a little behind the scenes of “Bye Bye Birdie.”
Reflection
Where have I been?
Before I took journalism my first impression of the class was that we were going to have to be doing a lot of learning and work sheets to get to write one story. I also thought that WordPress was going to be a lot harder to use and to get stories out. I thought that we all worked together to get stories out instead of having different sections for things we are interested in writing about. I thought that it would be cool to be in charge of helping with the paper.
Where am I now?
Journalism has helped me gain more social skills I can now go talk to more people without feeling as awkward throughout the whole interviewing process. I can take quotes and paraphrase them to turn them into two good sentences. I can meet deadlines and take them more seriously instead of just procrastinating. I can communicate with others when I have issues and work out an alternative to fix the problem.
Where am I going?
A goal that I have for myself is to get more interviews and ask more questions than I think I need so that I have enough information. Another goal is to try and contribute to helping my editors come up with story assignments for myself. I also want to write more independent stories next semester and be able to produce more. One goal I have for my section is to incorporate more multi-media in it but I would like to help with that.