It’s second-period journalism class at Plant City High School.
The bell has rung. I’m five minutes late. But not because I was talking to friends outside of my locker.
It was the last day of a 58-hour work week, and I was organizing the stacks of personality surveys, journalism 101 worksheets and Plant City Times & Observer business cards for the students.
I had been looking forward to teaching this class for months.
Several weeks before the 2015 fall semester at PCHS started, Principal Susan Sullivan and the PTSA invited a group of professionals from around the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World to a business advisory meeting. The emphasis of the meeting was to ask those with unique skills and a passion for volunteerism to mentor students at PCHS.
This vision was in line with the Plant City Times & Observer’s mission. We jumped on board to create our own mentorship program.
Now that staff background checks and SERVE forms have been officially approved, we are well on our way to launching a mass communication lecture series with PCHS’ journalism class as a collaboration with yearbook adviser and English teacher Jennifer Hamilton.
As I walk into the classroom for the first lecture Friday, Sept. 25, it is quiet. It’s 8:26 a.m. The students aren’t awake yet.
But it doesn’t take much to get them talking. I pass out a survey before I say anything about journalism. I want to know what they think about mass media, what stereotypes they have heard. I want to know what social media they’re engaged in, what’s trending. I want to know if they like being in the spotlight, would rather write from behind a desk, or loathe writing entirely.
Although each student will learn the staples of journalism — the lede, the inverted pyramid, truth and honesty, fact checking, proper sources, ethics, AP style — each student is different and geared toward different talents.
The jobs available in the mass communication field are endless. There’s advertising sales, graphic design, public relations, videography, photography. Even the journalism industry is its own tree of branches: broadcast, radio, newspaper, magazine, blogging.
I collect the surveys, excited to get to know them.
Then we get to brainstorming, much like a story budget or pitch meeting would go.
What are some events that are going on at PCHS? Is there a teacher that’s making an impact? When is the next big football rivalry?
They tell me: the homecoming game is in one week. Next door the art class is making ceramic pottery for the Empty Bowls charity fundraiser. Pep rallies have split into two because the student population is growing.
This group has a nose for news. Lucky for me, because I wasn’t there just to lecture.
“My goal is to start a tab on PlantCityObserver.com called Raider Review,” I told them. “It will be all about Plant City High School, completely student-produced, by you.”
Some heads perked up.
Raider Review, under the Neighborhood section, will include news and feature stories, photo galleries, video packages, briefs, and calendar events from PCHS. Plant City Times & Observer staff will provide one-on-one critiques and shadowing opportunities to ensure the students are not only learning but also getting an experience that can provide them with clips and resume points when they are applying for colleges or looking for a job in the mass communication field.
As I tell them about Raider Review, I wonder if they are going to bite.
“Does anyone want a story assignment this week?” I ask.
More hands than I can count shoot up.
ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP
Staff from the Plant City Times & Observer will visit teacher Jennifer Hamilton’s journalism class once a week to teach the students about journalism, provide one-on-one critiques, assign stories and arrange shadowing opportunities.
Stories completed during this partnership will go on PlantCityObserver.com under the student-produced Raider Review tab. If you are a PCHS student interested in being part of Raider Review contact Managing Editor Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.
In the future, staff would like to bring the program to Strawberry Crest and Durant highs.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.