Lindale students traveled to a journalism workshop Wednesday and Thursday at Whitehouse High School. Students attended to improve journalistic and technological skills that will provide a new directions for the programs as they progress into the new school year.
“We began the workshop more than 20 years ago,” director Debbie Vaughn said. “I wanted a workshop for my students [so], I hired some people, brought them in and opened it up.”
The workshop creates more individual time allowing students to learn new concepts. This also helps directors better focus their teaching concepts to the needs of the staff.
“It’s good because it’s small,” teacher Leland Mallett said. “A lot of workshops I teach in are in auditoriums and no one gets one-on-one time.”
The workshop set aside time for team-building to improve relationships within each staff. Students played games with fellow members to improve teamwork and communication.
“One thing I like about a workshop done like this is that we have team-building time specifically set aside,” yearbook managing editor Sarah Carter said. “We all get to come together. After we lost [a team-building competition], instead of being all sad about it and blaming other people, we really just had a good time with it.”
Instructors set aside classes for photography, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and story writing. Yearbook classes included lessons on theme, leadership, and marketing. This allowed students to improve their skills and better their programs.
“I’ve gotten some tips on how we can make our website look better and how we can make our magazine look better,”newspaper Editor-in-Chief Colleen Starkey said. “[We’ve also learned] how we can improve and hopefully [we will] get a star [from ILPC] this year.”
Students from Whitehouse, Canton, Spring Hill, Lindale and more attended. The workshop provided a chance to bond and to create interdistrict relationships.
“Through this workshop I’ve learned new ideas and how to write [in] new styles,” Dana Ramirez, Whitehouse Editor-in-Chief, said. “[My favorite part would] have to be the bonding I get [with] a bunch of my staff and a bunch of my friends. I probably wouldn’t have talked to half these people without the workshop, [so] it’s a great way to build relationships and friendships and expand my horizons.”
