I created this for my application for the Journalism Education Assocation's "High School Journalist of the Year" award. I placed 2nd in Northern California.
I am a natural leader, and I have a passion for communication. Need- less to say, I was addicted to the thrill of real-world deadlines and the pride of seeing my work in print from the beginning, when I joined the Introduc- tion to Journalism class as a sopho- more. I already held an advantage over the other students because of my advanced writing, editing and visual skills, so I was appointed as the co- editor-in-chief of the Gazette II. I learned the basics of modular page layouts and Adobe InDesign in a few brief lessons, and the rest I taught myself through trial and error. I was adjusting to a new “canvas,” and I had to learn an entirely different set of brushes; the whole process was new, and slightly intimidating. My teacher was also new to teaching journalism, so we both worked hard to overcome RXU ODFN RI NQRZOHGJH LQ WKH ¿HOG :H edited many rough drafts from every single writer in the class; it was my ¿UVW OHVVRQ LQ SDWLHQFH ZLWK QRWVR talented writers. I moved on up the ladder and joined the Advanced Journalism staff as a junior, and once again, I had an advan- tage over the other students. To be an editor on the Gazette staff, typically you must be a staff writer for one year prior to the application. Not me – because of my experience in Ga- zette II, and my hard-working nature, I was promoted to News editor. I was also involved in the Granite Bay High School marching band at the time, so 24 hours of my week was dedicated to music, on top of my posi- tion as Principal Flutist of the Sac- ramento Youth Symphony’s Premier Orchestra. Despite my time constraints, I tack- OHG VHYHUDO MREV DV DQ RI¿FLDO Gazette editor; I learned the basics of photog- raphy and Adobe Photoshop, I began creating illustrations with Adobe Illustrator, and I designed News pages. I took on these challenges and wrote a variety of stories because I wanted to become a well-rounded journalist, and the best way to learn it is to try it. Towards the end of the year, staff members were encouraging me to apply for the position of co-editor- in-chief. But there was a catch – if I committed to that position, my music would suffer. I could no longer be in the band, and I would be practicing Adobe InDesign rather than my scales. At the same time, I was also discov- ering my passion for Graphic Design. :KHQ , UHDOL]HG WKDW WKHUH ZDV DQ HQ- tire career dedicated to visual commu- nication – that other people shared my hatred for Comic Sans – I was sold. I quit band, accepted the position of HGLWRULQFKLHI DQG GRYH KHDG¿UVW LQWR the communication world – the phrase go big or go home summed up my at- titude towards my new position. , ¿QDOO\ KDG WKH WLPH QRZ WKDW , wasn’t in band, to commit to journal- ism and our staff. I am constantly UHDGLQJ QHZVSDSHUV PDJD]LQHV DQG online publications for new ideas; I also research design concepts and Adobe Illustrator tutorials online. I did this because I wanted to im- prove our newspaper and website in addition to improving internal com- munication between writers, editors, photographers and illustrators. I sat down with my other co-editors- in-chief and we planned a schedule for teaching journalistic lessons – every Monday, an editor would present an interactive lecture to improve our staff’s knowledge. I did a presentation on Graphic Design among others, and all four of us editors-in-chief ran a class activity about quality interviews and leads. :H SOD\HG RQH RI P\ LQWHUYLHZV RYHU a speaker and asked our staff writers to select the best quotes and note the questions that they were in response to, and write different styles of leads. I am a student and a teacher. I want to inspire my staff now with my work ethic, and after I graduate, I want my legacy to continue. I still push myself to new heights, though; I take on controversial and emotional stories and cover sports games that I previously knew nothing about. I consider myself as the jack of all trades, with a specialty in graphic design. It’s time consuming, to say the least. I work until the sun goes down at school, and often when I get home, the work doesn’t stop. Oftentimes I am asked why I do it – I’ve already received acceptance letters to colleges, so why bother? My staff and our paper. I am a per- fectionist, and I will inspire them (and myself) to create the best newspaper they can. If that means I lose a few hours of sleep here and there, so be it. I am further pursuing my passion for leadership and graphic design this \HDU ± , DP VWDUWLQJ WKH ¿UVW *%+6 PDJD]LQH My original Introduction to Journal- ism teacher approached me and asked nce upon a time... ...there was a young child who was fascinated by extravagant picture books. Stories with the most colorful, eye-catching illustrations captured her imaginative attentention; photos and comic books in any textbook or newspaper caught her eye before the text did. Her name is Alison Sale, and even though she’s (almost) an adult today, her creative habits have anything but disappeared with her teenage years. But her artistic canvas is no longer binder paper margins, and her inspiration is no longer picture books – it’s current events, and the world of journalism and graphic design that accompanies it.
Transcript
I am a natural leader, and I have a passion for communication. Need-less to say, I was addicted to the thrill of real-world deadlines and the pride of seeing my work in print from the beginning, when I joined the Introduc-tion to Journalism class as a sopho-more. I already held an advantage over the other students because of my advanced writing, editing and visual skills, so I was appointed as the co-editor-in-chief of the Gazette II. I learned the basics of modular page layouts and Adobe InDesign in a few brief lessons, and the rest I taught myself through trial and error. I was adjusting to a new “canvas,” and I had to learn an entirely different set of brushes; the whole process was new, and slightly intimidating. My teacher was also new to teaching journalism, so we both worked hard to overcome RXU�ODFN�RI�NQRZOHGJH�LQ�WKH�¿HOG��:H�edited many rough drafts from every single writer in the class; it was my ¿UVW�OHVVRQ�LQ�SDWLHQFH�ZLWK�QRW�VR�talented writers. I moved on up the ladder and joined the Advanced Journalism staff as a junior, and once again, I had an advan-tage over the other students. To be an editor on the Gazette staff, typically you must be a staff writer for one year prior to the application. Not me – because of my experience in Ga-zette II, and my hard-working nature, I was promoted to News editor. I was also involved in the Granite Bay High School marching band at the time, so 24 hours of my week was dedicated to music, on top of my posi-tion as Principal Flutist of the Sac-ramento Youth Symphony’s Premier
Orchestra. Despite my time constraints, I tack-OHG�VHYHUDO�MREV�DV�DQ�RI¿FLDO�Gazette editor; I learned the basics of photog-raphy and Adobe Photoshop, I began creating illustrations with Adobe Illustrator, and I designed News pages. I took on these challenges and wrote a variety of stories because I wanted to become a well-rounded journalist, and the best way to learn it is to try it. Towards the end of the year, staff members were encouraging me to apply for the position of co-editor-in-chief. But there was a catch – if I committed to that position, my music would suffer. I could no longer be in the band, and I would be practicing Adobe InDesign rather than my scales. At the same time, I was also discov-ering my passion for Graphic Design. :KHQ�,�UHDOL]HG�WKDW�WKHUH�ZDV�DQ�HQ-tire career dedicated to visual commu-nication – that other people shared my hatred for Comic Sans – I was sold. I quit band, accepted the position of HGLWRU�LQ�FKLHI�DQG�GRYH�KHDG¿UVW�LQWR�the communication world – the phrase go big or go home summed up my at-titude towards my new position.���,�¿QDOO\�KDG�WKH�WLPH��QRZ�WKDW�,�wasn’t in band, to commit to journal-ism and our staff. I am constantly UHDGLQJ�QHZVSDSHUV��PDJD]LQHV��DQG�online publications for new ideas; I also research design concepts and Adobe Illustrator tutorials online. I did this because I wanted to im-prove our newspaper and website in addition to improving internal com-munication between writers, editors, photographers and illustrators. I sat down with my other co-editors-
in-chief and we planned a schedule for teaching journalistic lessons – every Monday, an editor would present an interactive lecture to improve our staff’s knowledge. I did a presentation on Graphic Design among others, and all four of us editors-in-chief ran a class activity about quality interviews and leads. :H�SOD\HG�RQH�RI�P\�LQWHUYLHZV�RYHU�a speaker and asked our staff writers to select the best quotes and note the questions that they were in response to, and write different styles of leads. I am a student and a teacher. I want to inspire my staff now with my work ethic, and after I graduate, I want my legacy to continue. I still push myself to new heights, though; I take on controversial and emotional stories and cover sports games that I previously knew nothing about. I consider myself as the jack of all trades, with a specialty in graphic design. It’s time consuming, to say the least. I work until the sun goes down at school, and often when I get home, the work doesn’t stop. Oftentimes I am asked why I do it – I’ve already received acceptance letters to colleges, so why bother? My staff and our paper. I am a per-fectionist, and I will inspire them (and myself) to create the best newspaper they can. If that means I lose a few hours of sleep here and there, so be it. I am further pursuing my passion for leadership and graphic design this \HDU�±�,�DP�VWDUWLQJ�WKH�¿UVW�*%+6�PDJD]LQH� My original Introduction to Journal-ism teacher approached me and asked
nce upon a time... ...there was a young child who was fascinated by extravagant picture books. Stories with the most colorful, eye-catching illustrations captured her imaginative attentention; photos and comic books in any textbook or newspaper caught her eye before the text did.
Her name is Alison Sale, and even though she’s (almost) an adult today, her creative habits have anything but disappeared with her teenage years. But her artistic canvas is no
longer binder paper margins, and her inspiration is no longer picture books – it’s current events, and the world of journalism and graphic design that accompanies it.
ACTION PHO!
if we could take on the task together. Because it is a new class, she hand-picked and recruited ten people for our magazine staff, and our class is part of the Introduction to Journalism class. During third period, I simultaneously teach the beginning journalists with lessons on Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and writing while also planning and creating a magazine from scratch with our staff. I have been designated as WKH�RI¿FLDO�JUDSKLF�GHVLJQHU�(and co-editor-in-chief with another Gazette student) of the magazine, and since then I have surrounded my-self with design inspiration. In order to juggle these positions – teacher and creator of a magazine – I am forced to use my creative problem-solving. I can’t be in two places at once, so I used an online, step-by-step Adobe Illustra-tor tutorial to introduce the students to the program.
:KHQ�,�¿UVW�learned, a majority of it was by trial
and error (and many, many Google searches when I found problems that I couldn’t solve myself.) I ex-plained this to my students, and allowed them to ask me questions while I met with our magazine staff to assign stories and establish dead-lines. My lectures on InDesign and general newspaper layouts help me improve my public speaking skills, and it gives me yet another way to pass on my knowledge to future Gazette staffers. I have not been frequently published by other profes-sional media outlets because I am fully committed to the Gazette; I am not willing to spread my resources to other publications because I know our school publication will suffer. In the future, I want to pursue Graphic Design and music, but I also want to understand why com-munication works the way
it does, which sparked my interest in psychology. I want to explore our percep-tion of the news – how it is affected by fonts, how we perceive a tightly cropped emotional photograph, or our subconscious reaction to an impactful headline. In the future, I can continue to improve my communication skills – written, spoken, and visual – after I have mas-tered the psychological con-cepts that are involved in the communication process. My fascination with the varying types of communi-cation, combined with my creative expression, and eventually my understand-ing of the human nature behind all of it will eventu-ally help me uncover, report and illustrate the stories of the future, despite the uncer-tain state of the journalism industry.
�Has any of your work been used by the pro-fessional media? If yes, please explain. Yes. Our local newspaper, the Roseville Press Tribune
published a feature story I wrote about a German for-eign exchange student who attended our high school.
�What aspect of journal-ism and mass communica-tion is your career goal? Graphic Design
��Do you plan to enroll this year in a university jour-nalism degree program? Yes – I plan to pursue a combination of journalism (graphic design,) music and psychology
��/LVW�WKH�FROOHJHV�ZKLFK�you are considering at-tending in order of prefer-ence. If youKDYH�GH¿QLWHO\�GHFLGHG�which school you will at-tend, list only that college 1. Chapman University for music, Graphic Design and psychology 2. Arizona State Uni-versity; Tempe campus (Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts) and/or Downtown Phoenix campus (Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Com-munication)
�Gazette co-editor-in-chief Alison Sale records and discusses future story ideas with Granite Bay High School’s journalism adviser, Karl Grubaugh and the Gazette staff of 37 Advanced Journalism students.
GAZETTE PHOTO/ MAGGIE LOUIS
Page 1Alison Sale
Skilled and creative use of media content – writing, production, photography, etc.
Graphic Design 2-5
Page Layout 6-7
The Whole Package 8-9
Inquiring mind and investigative persistence resulting in in-depth study or studies of issues important to the local high school audience, high school students in general, or society.
In-depth study 10-13
Courageous and responsible handling of sensitive is-sues – local or societal – despite threat or imposure of censorship.
Responsible handling of sensitive issues 14-15, 18-19
Responsible handling despite threat 16-17
Variety of journalistic experiences, each handled in a quality manner – newspaper, yearbook, broadcast, pho-tography, Web design, other design work, community and other outside-of-school journalistic work, etc.
Online 20-21
Photography 22
Variety of writing 23-25
TABLE OF CONTENTS
skilled and creative use of media content � GraPHic desiGnPage 2 alison sale
�December 2010, Granite Bay Gazette – Lifestyle
This is one of few pages that we can print in
color, so I wanted to take advantage of that and use a continuous color scheme. I chose yellow because it not only catches the reader’s atten-tion, but also rep-resents the GBHS traditional senior color. When planning the story with my co-writer, we decid-ed to follow seniors through several steps of the pro-cess, but instead of writing a typical edi-tor’s note, I created an info-graphic that informs the reader and follows my “road” theme with the coloring and layout. I also chose to use circles rather than the rectangu-lar-themed pat-terns that are seen throughout the rest of the paper.
skilled and creative use of media content � GraPHic desiGn Page 3alison sale
Illustrations can be used as eye-candy – a
UHG�ÀDJ�WR�FDWFK�WKH�reader’s attention ±�RU�DV�D�PHWKRG�RI�LQIRUPLQJ�WKH�reader.���7KHVH�WZR�LOOXVWUD-WLRQV�ZHUH�SULPDULO\�eye-candy, so I brainstormed by ZLWK�VHYHUDO�*RRJOH�LPDJHV�DQG�VNHWFK-LQJ�P\�LGHDV�RQ�Adobe Illustrator. Communication ZDV�WKH�GHWHUPLQJ�IDFWRU�RI�WKH�JDPLQJ�LOOXVWUDWLRQ��,�WDONHG�WR�WKH�ZULWHU�WR�OHDUQ�ZKLFK�JHQUH�RI�YLG-HR�JDPHV��DV�ZHOO�DV�WKH�HGLWRU�DERXW�WKH�GRPLQDQFH�RI�WKH�LOOXVWUDWLRQ�DQG�FRRUGLQDWLQJ�KHDG-line fonts.���:LWK�WKH�.HQQHG\�Center illustration, ,�WRRN�VRPH�DUWLVWLF�license and includ-HG�WKH�UHÀHFWLRQ�RQ�WKH�ZDWHU�DV�ZHOO�DV�WKH�PXVLF�ÀRDWLQJ�WKURXJK�WKH�VN\�WR�LQWHUDFW�ZLWK�WKH�KHDGOLQH�
�Nov. 2010, *UDQLWH�%D\�*D]HWWH�±�*UHHQ�6FUHHQ
�May 2010, *UDQLWH�%D\�*D]HWWH�±�/LIHVW\OH
skilled and creative use of media content � GraPHic desiGn Page 4alison sale
After attending a workshop at
the Sacramento Bee with their politi-cal cartoonist, I real-ized that interactive illustrations can serve a purpose. I used this idea to simultaneously entertain and inform the reader of the story’s intentions for the front cover of our entertainment insert (Green Screen.) I wanted a simple graphic to represent the story – a typical “how to go green guide,” Christmas edition. I also want-ed to take advantage of color, so I drew visual comparisons between recycling and Christmas. Obviously, they have the color green in common, as well as a triangular shape. After hours of trial and error on Adobe Illustrator, I designed this simple yet effective front cover with a pop of color on the bottom to tease to the other inside stories. For the actual story, I assigned four different Gazette il-lustrators to the task – this would force them to communi-cate and brainstorm with each other (and the editor) to cre-ate a simple, yet effective design.
�December 2010, Granite Bay Gazette – Green Screen
skilled and creative use of media content � desiGn Page 5alison sale
I also wanted to teach my Gazette editors
(page designers) about the endless possibilities of inter-active illustrations and page designs. I created a slide-show with award-winning designs and other effective page designs (even in other languages) that I discovered on issuu.com. In white text, I explained why the page design was excellent. In green text, I explained how to achieve this effect on Adobe InDesign, includ-ing screen shots of which tools to select. After I presented the Powerpoint to our staff, I saved it into a public folder where editors could access the informa-tion. My editors responded very well – Lifestyle editors responded with an excellent use of text as a graphic, Sports editors created a fantastic front page with a dominant cut-out and color-ful headline, and Green Screen editors used the illustrations to their advantage and printed text inside of them.�Dec. 2010, Granite Bay
Gazette – Green Screen
�Feb. 2011, Granite Bay Gazette – Sports
�Feb. 2011, Granite Bay Gazette – Lifestyle
�Dec. 2010, Design Powerpoint
skilled and creative use of media content � page layoutpage 6 alison sale
My experi-ence with illus-
trations and graphic design also trans-fers over to less expressive News page layouts. Our deadline was on the night of Homecoming, and I received an excel-lent photograph of the Homecom-ing Queen being crowned three hours before my deadline. Obviously we didn’t have time to write a story on the event, but I knew that this picture could tell the story. I re-designed my page to make the dominant package focus on the phe-nonmenal Home-coming Queen photo. I also includ-ed another picture from the Homecom-ing rally earlier that day to create a nice package that catch-es the reader’s attention.
�Oct. 2010, Granite Bay Gazette – News
SKILLED AND CREATIVE USE OF MEDIA CONTENT PAGE LAYOUT Page 7Alison Sale
My design experience also helps
with front page designs. I used the drunk-driving simulation Every 15 Minutes as my dominant package, but I didn’t want to cre-ate the typical dra-matic crash scene package. Instead, I chose a picture that showed the accident and the crowd that was witnessing the accident. Instead of using a typical mugshot to show the accused “drunk driver,” I used a profile of him that faces towards the main picture, there-fore drawing hte reader’s attention there as well. For the teasers, I used my creativ-ity to integrate the Grinch cut-out with the page number as well as the teaser for slack-linging, as it interacts with the Gazette title.
December 2010, Granite Bay Gazette – News
skilled and creative use of media content � the whole package page 8alison sale
I wrote this review and col-laborated on the
design with another editor. During my visits to several dif-ferent dog parks, I took pictures with my point-and-shoot digital camera. One dog owner offered to do tricks in front of the camera, and we decided to use a cut-out of the dog to interact with the headline. The headline text was split into three different boxes so we could re-size HDFK�ZRUG�WR�¿W�LQ�with each other, and the dog was placed to look towards the headline, therefore drawing the reader’s attention there as well. After intensive research on dog in-teraction and safety, I wrote an introduc-tion to educate and prepare the reader for a dog park visit.
Through Fido’s eyes, a dog park can be the PRVW�JORULRXV�SODFH�RQ�HDUWK�±�¿QDOO\��VSDFH�WR�UXQ�ZKHUH�KH�SOHDVHV�DQG�SOD\�LQ¿QLWH�JDPHV�RI�IHWFK�ZLWK�WHQQLV�EDOOV�KLGGHQ�LQ�WKH�JUDVV��%XW�WR�\RX��KLV�RZQHU��D�GRJ�SDUN�FDQ�EH�D�IULJKWHQ-ing, potentially dangerous place with the threat RI�GLVHDVHV�DQG�GRJ�¿JKWV� ���,Q�D�SKRQH�LQWHUYLHZ��*%+6�SDUHQW�DQG�YHWHUL-narian Diane Chesebro emphasized the impor-WDQFH�RI�WKH�%RUGDWHOOD��RU�NHQQHO�FRXJK�YDFFLQH�because it can be transmitted easily between GRJV�GXULQJ�SOD\�DW�D�SDUN� ����%XW�HYHQ�LI�)LGR�LV�XS�WR�GDWH�RQ�KLV�YDFFLQD-WLRQV��KH¶V�VWLOO�QRW�UHDG\�IRU�WKH�GRJ�SDUN� ���'RJV�PXVW�EH�DFFXVWRPHG�WR�WKH�SUHVHQFH�RI�RWKHU�GRJV�±�IUHTXHQW�ZDONV�DURXQG�WKH�QHLJK-ERUKRRG�EHIRUH�WKH�¿UVW�GRJ�SDUN�YLVLW�LV�HVVHQ-WLDO��EHFDXVH�VRFLDOL]DWLRQ�LV�NH\�LQ�D�VXFFHVVIXO�GRJ�SDUN�H[SHULHQFH��DFFRUGLQJ�WR�&KHVHEUR� ���7KH�¿UVW�WLPH�WKDW�PDQ¶V�EHVW�IULHQG�LV�LQWUR-duced to a dog park, it is key to keep him or her with dogs in the same general size and personal-LW\�JURXS� ���³%LJ�GRJV�GRQ¶W�GR�ZHOO�ZLWK�OLWWOH�GRJV�because the (big dogs) tend to want to dominate the (little) dogs,” said Frank Munoz, local dog RZQHU�DQG�VXSSRUWHU�RI�&DQLQH¶V�&RPSDQLRQ�IRU�,QGHSHQGHQFH��³,W¶V�D�OLWWOH�KDUG�IRU�VPDOO�GRJV�EHFDXVH�WKH\�GRQ¶W�UHDOL]H�WKH\¶UH�VPDOO�GRJV�´ ���7KH�GLIIHUHQW�SHUVRQDOLWLHV�DUH�DFFRPPRGDWHG�IRU�LQ�PRVW�GRJ�SDUNV�ZLWK�VHSDUDWH�VHFWLRQV�±�3KRHQL[�'RJ�3DUN�HYHQ�KDV�D�WKLUG�VHFWLRQ�IRU�WKRVH�ZKR�GRQ¶W�TXLWH�¿W�LQ�ZLWK�WKH�UHVW�RI�WKH�SDFN��SHU�VH��%XW�ZKHQ�FRQWUDVWLQJ�SHUVRQDOLWLHV�FODVK��GRJ�¿JKWV�PD\�EUHDN�RXW� ���7KH�EHVW�ZD\�WR�SUHYHQW�WKLV�LV�WR�ZDWFK�IRU�ERG\�ODQJXDJH�±�LI�)OXII\¶V�OHJV�DUH�VWLII��KHU�ears are sticking straight up along with her tail, it’s time to distract her attention and get her RXW�RI�WKH�VLWXDWLRQ�EHIRUH�VKH�KXUWV�RQH�RI�KHU�³IULHQGV´��$OVR��ZDWFK�IRU�SDFNV�WKDW�IRUP�ZLWK�
JURXSV�RI�PRUH�WKDQ�IRXU�GRJV�±�LI�WKLV�KDSSHQV��OHDG�\RXU�GRJ�WR�D�QHXWUDO�DUHD�RU�WDNH�KLP�IRU�D�ZDON�DQG�FRPH�EDFN�DQRWKHU�WLPH� Dog parks, though they may be a potential KD]DUG�ZLWK�NHQQHO�FRXJK�DQG�¿JKWV��FDQ�EH�LQFUHGLEO\�EHQH¿FLDO� ���([HUFLVH�LV�DPRQJ�WKH�PRVW�LPSRUWDQW�EHQH¿WV��&KULV�+DQNV��D�UHJXODU�DW�3KRHQL[�'RJ�3DUN�with his border collie-sheltie mix named Mija, ZKROH�KHDUWHGO\�DJUHHV� “(The dog park) gives her something I could QHYHU�JLYH�KHU�´�+DQNV�VDLG��³,�FRXOG�MRJ�ZLWK�KHU�IRU����PLOHV�D�GD\��EXW�VKH�ZRXOG�QHYHU�JHW�WKH�DPRXQW�RI�H[HUFLVH��VKH�JHWV�DW�D�GRJ�SDUN��´%XW�H[HUFLVH�DQG�VRFLDOL]DWLRQ�FDQ�EH�KHOSIXO�WR�ERWK�6SRW�DQG�KLV�RZQHU��7KLV�LV�VHHQ�SDUWLFX-ODUO\�DW�%HDU�'RJ�3DUN��ORFDWHG�LQ�0DKDQ\�3DUN�DFURVV�WKH�VWUHHW�IURP�DQ�HOGHUO\�FRPPXQLW\�FDOOHG�6XQ�&LW\��ZKHUH�H[HUFLVH�DQG�VRFLDO�RS-SRUWXQLWLHV�DUH�SUHVHQW�HYHU\�GD\� The park has a dirt track surrounding the JUDVV\�¿HOG��VR�ZKLOH�6SRW�LV�RII�VQLI¿QJ�WKH�ODWHVW�WUHQGV�LQ�³GRJJ\�SHUIXPH´��WKH�WUDFN�SUR-YLGHV�DQ�RSSRUWXQLW\�IRU�D�GDLO\�ZRUNRXW��7KH�SDUN�DOVR�DWWUDFWV�WKH�HOGHUO\�FRPPXQLW\�IURP�6XQ�&LW\� ���³,W¶V�UHDOO\�D�FKDQFH�IRU�WKHP�WR�JHW�RXWVLGH�WKH�KRXVH�EHFDXVH�WKH\��PD\�QRW��KDYH�IDPLO\�DQ\-PRUH��DQG�WKLV�GRJ�SDUN�EHFRPHV�WKHLU�IDPLO\�´�VDLG�$P\�%XUULV��D�UHJXODU�DW�%HDU�'RJ�3DUN�ZLWK�KHU�'REHUPDQ�QDPHG�%ULDU� ���%HFDXVH�*UDQLWH�%D\�GRHV�QRW�KDYH�DQ\�GRJ�SDUNV��WKH�IROORZLQJ�SDUNV�DUH�ORFDWHG�LQ�Roseville or other nearby cities, and have been UDWHG�RQ�D�VFDOH�RI�RQH�WR�IRXU�GRJ�ERQHV�DF-FRUGLQJ�WR�WKHLU�RYHUDOO�TXDOLW\��7KLV�WDNHV�LQ�WR�FRQVLGHUDWLRQ�RSSRUWXQLWLHV�IRU�H[HUFLVH�DQG�socialization along with cleanliness, presence RI�IUHVK�ZDWHU�DQG�EDWKLQJ�DUHDV��WR\V��DFFRP-PRGDWLRQV�IRU�DOO�W\SHV�RI�GRJV�DQG�VHUYLFHV�SURYLGHG�IRU�WKH�RZQHUV�
�April 2010, Granite Bay Gazette – Lifestyle
skilled and creative use of media content � the whole package page 9alison sale
I wanted to present the features – and the drawbacks – of each dog park to help the reader choose the best dog park for their needs, but I didn’t want to present all of this in a giant block of text.
So, we arranged it in a repetitive format using the pictures from my digital camera and illustrations of dog bones to indicate the rating. After the story published, I received a letter from a freshman student who used to be intimidated by dog parks, but my guide inspired him to take his overweight dog to the park – and the dog lost a few pounds with their regular park visits!
�April 2010, Granite Bay Gazette – Lifestyle
Granite Bay High School senior Laura Smith is a victim of bullying. She is one of the estimated 25 percent of students who are affected by bullying at some point dur-ing their school career, according to the National Association of School Psycholo-gists. “It doesn’t make sense why you would break someone down to the point of (caus-ing them to) act violently or wanting to disappear altogether,” Smith said Smith admits that she has bullied others as a result of being bullied – every force has an equal and opposite reaction. “It was an act of lashing out because (I was) angry and sad,” Smith said. “ “Personally I didn’t want them to suffer or anything, I just wanted them to know what they had done. Sometimes that realization doesn’t hit them until it’s done to them, which I don’t want to happen. It shouldn’t be a domino force, back and forth, because that just leaves you both on the ground.”
***
The issue of bullying – in the form of physical and verbal assaults, social exclu-sion and assaults on social networking sites – is a rather new issue on Granite Bay High School’s radar. The results from a School Climate Sur-vey, completed by 1,401 GBHS students, were published in late August. GBHS is indeed part of the national averagae in regards to bullying. In some cases, higher statistics were reported – 32 percent of students reported that they had seen or heard of another student being verbally bullied and/or harassed, while 28 percent reported social bullying and/or ha-rassment. GBHS Principal Mike McGuire initiated a committee last year comprised of admin-istrators, teachers and parents to combat the issue through education and preven-tion. The committee is titled Creating Un-limited Learning Through Unity, Respect and Equity (C.U.L.T.U.R.E.) “We’ve learned (from the school shoot-ing at) Columbine High School that (the
phrase) ‘sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me’ is to-tally ineffective,” McGuire said. “We’ve known that for a long, long time – what we still haven’t cracked is the code of si-lence.” McGuire believes the “code of silence,” or reluctance to tell an administrator about bullying, prevents GBHS from having the best possible school climate. Smith agrees. “The administration can do a lot, but only if they’re asked to intervene,” Smith said. According to the NASP, “bullying occurs when a student is repeatedly harmed, psy-chologically and/or physically, by another student or group of students.” GBHS psychologist Angela Sanchez typically finds that bullies want to feel dominant and more powerful, so they select victims that seem weak. She ad-vises the “weak” students to stand up for themselves, or stand up to the bully with a group of friends, because the bully will be the minority and regret the action. Sanchez thinks that if the victims of these situations actually stood up and challenged these bullies, the social norm will gradually change so that bullying is not acceptable. However, if the victim doesn’t have a support group, Sanchez strongly suggests confiding in a supportive adult on cam-pus. “A lot of the students I’ve talked to don’t tell anyone. Then it builds, and builds and builds until they can’t handle it anymore,” Sanchez said. “If it’s to the point where (a victim is) getting emotional about it – it’s making them feel upset, sad and maybe they don’t want to go to school or social events anymore – that should be the red flag (to seek an adult).” Smith has additional advice: realize that the bully’s judgment is false because they don’t understand the victim’s past experi-ences. “It’s not like they’re God and they’re tell-
See BULLYING, page 7
INQUIRING MIND AND INVESTIGATIVE PERSISTENCE IN-DEPTH STUDYPage 10 Alison Sale
After an anti-bul-lying assembly, I
proposed the idea of an in-depth, front page story focused on bullying. My co-editors fought me be-cause they thought there would be no relevant timeli-ness aspect to the story. Wrong. After many interviews – I was sent on a wild goose chase after many teachers and finally ended up interviewing the principal – I found my story. I wanted to report the results of a re-cent bullying survey and the efforts of an administrative com-mittee including an upcoming events (Point Break) to pre-vent bullying. But I also wanted to give a voice to bullying victims who learned to cope, with advice.
Oct. 2010, Granite Bay Gazette – News
inquiring mind and investigative persistence � in-depth study page 11alison sale
After the storywas published,I attended the
Point Break eventthat I previewed inmy story out of per-sonal interest. I met a student who was the victim of severeverbal bullying at school, and the situation pushed him to consider suicide. I began to offer him the advice from my story – to seek an adult he trusted – but he had already done so,after reading my story. Several months after the publication, I was also asked to join a Student Govern-ment committee to help plan an anti-bullying campaign week.
telling you ‘You’re a horrible person’,” Smith said. “They’re not (God); they don’t know any-thing (about you). So why should they be able to affect your life so badly?” This is a concept GBHS senior Alyssa Anthony has dealt with also. ���³�%XOO\LQJ��GH¿QLWHO\�GLG�DIIHFW�PH�D�ORW�ZKHQ�I was younger – it put me in tears,” Anthony said. “You have this alone feeling, and you feel like the world – not just that one person who is bullying you – is out to get you.” Anthony suffered from a common form of bul-lying at GBHS: cyberbullying. “I (understand why) people get really depressed from (bullying) because…I’ve (had) dirty ru-mors posted on the internet about me, where the whole entire world can see,” Anthony said. Sanchez believes that because social working sites such as Facebook and MySpace are open to the public, cyberbullying can be more power-ful than one-on-one name calling or social ex-clusion, which are two other common forms of bullying at GBHS. “If it’s Facebook, everyone sees (the com-ments,)” Sanchez said. “When all of these other people are brought in, that can be really detri-mental and make the student feel really isolated and not know what to do.” The administration has investigated two major cases of cyberbullying that involved several stu-dents, in which MySpace or Facebook have been the key components. “We tried to address at the class meetings in the beginning of the year that we’re serious about respecting everyone here on campus,” McGuire said. “We can discipline (students for incidents on MySpace or Facebook) because it creates a negative climate here at school, you just happen to be using (the Internet) to create that negative climate.” Many steps can be taken to prevent these LQVWDQFHV� LQ� WKH� ¿UVW� SODFH�� *%+6� (QJOLVK�teacher Judi Daniels is one of the teachers on WKH�&�8�/�7�8�5�(��FRPPLWWHH�EHFDXVH�VKH�IHOW�strongly about bullying for personal reasons. “My niece…committed suicide a year ago as a result of cyberbullying, so this is a very per-sonal situation,” Daniels said. “I decided that I had to do something here (at GBHS) to work out my own issues. I did some research, found (out) about Point Break and followed through with that.” Point Break is a day-long workshop that breaks down barriers and creates connections among students through a variety of activities and dis-FXVVLRQV�� 'DQLHOV� ZRUNHG� ZLWK� *%+6� (QJOLVK�
teacher Katrina Wachs to bring it to GBHS last year. In order to support Point Break, Daniels started a club, Campus Con-nections, in which 60 students joined after Point Break to promote a more positive student campus and ¿JKW�EXOO\LQJ� “The (day after Point Break last year,) we had a big breakfast over in the library, and I saw (stu-dents approach other) kids that were such out-casts – the kind who sit against the wall at lunch and no one ever talks to them – and say ‘Hey man, come and sit over here with us!’ It was a night-and-day difference,” Daniels said. Campus Connections has already designated WKHLU�RI¿FHUV�DQG�EHJDQ�SURPRWLQJ�DQG�IXQGUDLV-ing for two Point Break programs this year. The next one will be Oct. 30, and the second program will be in the spring. Daniels is also teaming up with Wachs to teach D� EXOO\LQJ� XQLW� LQ� WKHLU� (QJOLVK� FODVVHV�� DIWHU�'DQLHOV� UHDOL]HG� WKH� ([SRVLWRU\� 5HDGLQJ� DQG�Writing course she is teaching includes a bully-ing unit. “I am absolutely convinced that I have both bullies and victims in (my) class – absolutely convinced,” Daniels said. At the beginning of the unit, students were complaining that the issue of bullying is blown out of proportion. Daniels assigned her students to interview an assistant principal from anoth-er high school and to research bullying studies SXEOLVKHG�LQ�WKH�ODVW�¿YH�\HDUV� “We’ve pretty much as a whole come to the conclusion that it is a serious problem,” Daniels said. “They were startled when they discovered in several different resources that 60 percent of bullies will have criminal charges against them by the time they’re 24. Bullying behavior doesn’t go away when left (alone) – that’s huge.” Daniels thinks that although her bullying unit might not have changed behavior, it certainly raised awareness – her students recognized the extent of the problems that both victims and bul-lies have. “Just from personal experience, the one thing that really helps – that can totally make your day after everyone else has ruined it – is (just) one person coming up and asking if you’re alright and giving you a hug,” Smith said. “Just give them a little bit of love, and it really makes the day worth it, even if (they) have to suffer.
Continued from page 7
�October 2010, Granite Bay Gazette – News
InquIrIng mInd and InvestIgatIve persIstence � In-depth studypage 12 alison sale
The harderst
part about this
story, hands
down, was contact-
ing students for
interviews. Typically
we have access to
the students and
teachers we need
on campus and can
outsource to experts
when necessary.
But my story was
focused on students
who have attendance
issues, so I couldn’t
just approach them
at school, especially
during the last period
of the day (when we
have journalism) on
warm, sunny day.
I had to track down
students’ cell phone
numbers, call them
and convince them
to stay at school lon-
ger to talk to me (an
even harder task).
When that didn’t
work, I got permis-
sion to attend the
18-year-old-waiver
meeting in hopes of
interviewing
students.
Granite Bay High School senior Jake Loterbauer had a severe bronchial infection and needed to see a doctor during school hour. Because of the legal responsibility the school holds, he could not be released without parental consent. In order to see a doctor and treat his condition, he was re-quired to interrupt his father’s vacation in Hawaii. His father had to excuse his son from school before his son could leave school. “He was a little angry at me,” Loterbauer said. Since then, he has solved this problem by acknowledging his rights as an 18-year-old on campus with a waiver. Now he can sign himself out for Sierra College classes at his own convenience without parental consent.
*** When teenagers become 18-year-olds, they assume the right to vote, marry, buy or sell property and authorize medi-cal treatment without parental consent. They must pay their own income taxes, can be sued personally and do not have the protection of juvenile court. In other words, they are tried and punished as adults. The law treats them as adults
in almost every aspect – every aspect except their education. The term In loco parentis, a Latin phrase that translates to “in place of a parent,” applies to all students attendingschool, regardless of their age. The school essentially absorbs the responsibility of a legal guardian, thus taking the place of a parent. With a waiver, however, 18-year-olds can assume their rights on campus, and they even have the choice to block all parental access to their school records. Granite Bay High School assistant principal Brian McNulty meets with seniors at �����D�P��RQ�WKH�¿UVW�:HGQHV-day of every month to explain the details of this waiver. “You’re responsible for knowing all the rules of the
school: the wherefores and the why-nots,” McNulty said in the May meeting to the only two seniors who attended. “You’ve been doing this for more than three years, so that can’t be an excuse if or when you break one.” If the student can handle the responsibilities, the waiver can EH�EHQH¿FLDO��DV�/RWHUEDXHU�learned the hard way. “The only reason I got it is because I need to sign myself out every now and then for Si-erra College,” Loterbauer said. What may be a convenience for Loterbauer is an intimidat-ing responsibility for others. The expectation to know and more importantly, follow the rules can be a frightening responsibility. “(By signing this waiver), you’re just acknowledging the fact that you’re 18 to the school,” McNulty said. “We’re going to treat you like an adult from here forward. (If) any-thing comes down legally, you are responsible.” McNulty compares the waiver to a provisional license or a credit card – both are privileges, and though people are legally allowed to acquire them, many people avoid it
because of the responsibility that ensues. “I don’t encourage (students to get the waiver),” McNulty said. “(It’s similar to a credit card, and it’s) a little scary – it means that you can spend a lot. Some people believe that they don’t have the self-discipline with their purchases. Much like the 18-year-old waiver, people are afraid they might abuse that privilege too…so they opt out.” If the responsibility doesn’t scare them away, the early morning meetings will. The number of students with the waiver has declined, according to GBHS government teacher Jarrod Westberg. “(The school) makes it dif-¿FXOW�WR�JHW�±��WKH�PHHWLQJ�LV�held) once a month (for) an hour before the collaboration day starts,” Westberg said. “I think students just forget.” Westberg said the number of students with the waiver was higher before collaboration days were established. When the school was on a different schedule several years ago, the meeting was held directlybefore a regular school day rather than an hour-and-a-half before class. “I have an older brother, and he never got it, but he would always talk about it,” GBHS senior Spencer Kimes said. “He never did because it was a collaboration day morning and he had to wake up early, (but I think) it was worth it.” However, there are conse-quences for taking advantage of the waiver – other privileg-es, such as walking the stage at graduation and senior activities can be taken away. This policy does not allow a student to exceed 10 absences, whether they are excused by a parent or an 18-year-old with a waiver. According to Board Policy 5000, “absences, truant con-duct or tardiness of 10 or more school days…for illness (are not approved) without writ-
�May 2010, Granite
Bay Gazette – News
See WAIVER, page 9
InquIrIng mInd and InvestIgatIve persIstence � In-depth study page 13alison sale
even when attending
the senior attendance meet-ing didn’t work (only two seniors showed up, and they were still asleep,) I pushed RQ�WR�¿QG�VRXUFHV��and eventually my story. I found the district’s 10-day policy, which had apparently been installed the previ-ous year without much publicity. The policy affect-ed a large number of students who violated the rule (mostly because they weren’t aware of it,) and my in-depth re-search provided much-needed public information regarding this policy.
Continued from page 8
not approved) without written YHUL¿FDWLRQ�E\�D�PHGLFDO�SURIHV-VLRQDO�´�,W�DOVR�VDLG�WKDW�³DQ\�SDWWHUQ�RI�UHSHDWHG�DEVHQFHV�DQG�RU�WUXDQW�WDUGLQHVV�WKDW�DGYHUVHO\�DIIHFWV�WKH�VWXGHQW¶V�DFDGHPLF�SURJUHVV«�DUH�GH¿QHG�DV�SDW-WHUQV�RI�VWXGHQW�QRQ�DWWHQGDQFH´����7KH�5RVHYLOOH�-RLQW�8QLRQ�+LJK�6FKRRO�'LVWULFW�LPSOH-PHQWHG�WKH����GD\�UXOH�ZKLFK�DOORZHG�WKH�VFKRRO�DQG�WKH�GLVWULFW�WR�HQIRUFH�FRQVHTXHQFHV�IRU�WKRVH�VWXGHQWV�ZKR�DUH�DEXV-LQJ�VFKRRO�UXOHV��LQFOXGLQJ�WKRVH�ZKR�DUH�WDNLQJ�DGYDQWDJH�RI�WKH�ZDLYHU����³,I�\RX¶YH�JRW�D�VHULRXV�UHDVRQ�QRW�WR�EH��LQ�VFKRRO���\RX¶OO�EH�H[FXVHG�RU�LW¶OO�EH�ZRUNHG��URXQG�´�0F1XOW\�VDLG��³6R�ZH�WU\�WR�WDNH�DOO�WKLQJV�LQWR�FRQ-VLGHUDWLRQ�ZLWK�D�FDVH�E\�FDVH�VLWXDWLRQ�´���*%+6�VHQLRU�$OH[D�&UDZIRUG�LV�RQH�RI�WKRVH�VWXGHQWV�ZKR�KDG�D�VHULRXV�UHDVRQ�IRU�PLVV-LQJ�VFKRRO��VKH�ZDV�GLDJQRVHG�ZLWK�FDQFHU�DW�WKH�EHJLQQLQJ�RI�KHU�MXQLRU�\HDU�DQG�H[SHULHQFHG�DQRWKHU�VFDUH�DW�WKH�EHJLQQLQJ�RI�WKLV�VFKRRO�\HDU��7KH�VFKRRO�UHTXLUHG�D�GRFWRU¶V�QRWH�IURP�KHU�WR�H[FXVH�KHU�DEVHQFHV��EXW�WKDW�SURYHG�GLI¿FXOW�IRU�&UDZIRUG����³$W�WKH�EHJLQQLQJ�RI�WKLV�\HDU��,�KDG�WR�PLVV�IRXU�GD\V�RI�VFKRRO�LQ�WKH�¿UVW�ZHHN�´�&UDZIRUG�VDLG�$W�WKDW�SRLQW��,��KDG�����GLIIHUHQW�GRFWRUV�,��KDG��WR�ZRUN�ZLWK��VR�LW�ZDV�UHDOO\�GLI¿FXOW�WR�JHW�D�VSHFL¿F�GRFWRU¶V�QRWH�WR�H[FXVH�RQH�DSSRLQWPHQW�´���&UDZIRUG�HQGHG�XS�ZRUN-LQJ�ZLWK�D�FRXQVHORU�DW�6XWWHU�+RVSLWDO��ZKR�DFWHG�DV�D�OLDLVRQ�EHWZHHQ�WKH�VFKRRO��&UDZIRUG�DQG�KHU�GRFWRUV�WR�LQIRUP�WKH�VFKRRO�WKDW�&UDZIRUG�KDG�D�VHULRXV�FRQGLWLRQ�DQG�QHHGHG�WR�OHDYH�VFKRRO�RIWHQ�IRU�GLIIHUHQW�DSSRLQWPHQWV����&UDZIRUG�FRXOG�QRW�DWWHQG�VFKRRO�RIWHQ�DV�D�UHVXOW�RI�DSSRLQWPHQWV�IRU�EORRG�WHVWV��05,V��&$7�VFDQV�DQG�RWKHU�WHVWV����7KH�GRFWRU¶V�QRWH�ZULWWHQ�E\�KHU�FRXQVHORU�H[FXVHV�KHU�IURP�VFKRRO�IRU�DOO�DSSRLQWPHQWV�±�
responsible handling of sensitive issuespage 14 alison sale
My co-editor-in-chief and I knew to ap-
proach this story with more caution than a typical news story. We agreed to high-light his time in our community, when he connected with stu-dents and teachers at GBHS, rather than focus on his tragic death or the political angle involving war. Katie and I agreed to avoid interviewing the family at such an emotional time, so we rebuilt his life story through his network of friends, which was GLI¿FXOW�WR�WUDFN�GRZQ� Our local news-paper published an article about Victor before we did, and the story only includ-ed an interview with his mother. But our story was more effective in cre-ating a relationship between Victor and the reader, with an-ecdotes that students can relate to and comments from our own GBHS teachers.
�November 2010, Granite Bay Gazette
I got to know Victor just because he was Vic-tor. He was an individual – he didn’t follow the crowd. I mean, he just stood out. As a teacher, I WKLQN�\RX�KDYH�VSHFL¿Fkids that you think about often (because) they made an impression on you – I’ve beenhere seven years (and Victor was one of those kids). In class, he was always a participant. It’s not that he always had the right answer; but he always had an opinion, believed in the opinion, backed it up and that affected other kids (so that) they respected him when he spoke. He was a silent leader. He really touched my heart. There are kids you (teach) that make you say: ‘God I hope my kids turn out like that’. That’s how I felt about Victor.
***
Granite Bay High School teacher Liz McCuen
is one of many who remember Victor Dew, a
GBHS 2008 graduate and Private First Class
in the U.S. Marine Corps. Dew, who joined the
Marines in 2009, was killed in combat Oct. 13 in
Afghanistan.
He made similar impressions on all who knew
him.
GBHS 2008 graduate Eric Seidman graduated
in the same class as Dew. The boys met at Olym-
pus Junior High School soon after Dew’s family
relocated from the Bay Area.
���³,�ZDV�SUHWW\�LQWLPLGDWHG��ZKHQ�,�¿UVW�PHW�9LF-tor), to be honest. But upon hearing him speak,
I realized that he was one of the most down-to-
earth guys,” Seidman said.
“He could talk to anybody, and nobody ever had
anything against him. This is how he always was
– perhaps if anything changed about him, it was
that more and more people realized it,” he said.
Granite Bay parent Valisa Schmidley is one of
many others who were impacted by
Dew’s kind heart and quiet demeanor. She
worked with him at the OJHS snack bar,
where he insisted on being her teacher assistant.
“When he came to Olympus as a seventh grader,
Continued from page 14
he was really shy – like painfully shy,” Schmidley said. “Even though he was quiet, he had a tremendous inner strength – he was very loving, very sweet, very kind-hearted.” It was at OJHS where Dew met his best friend, GBHS 2007 alum Arash Mottaghian. The two met in leadership class and soon after discov-ered they were neighbors. Dew and Mottaghian re-mained close during their years at GBHS – they ate lunch together, walked home from school together, spent time after school together and hung out on the weekends. One of Mottaghian’s favorite memories from their friend-ship was riding their bikes or skateboards around town. “(Once), close to Halloween, we were biking around and we went over to Party City. 7KH\�KDG�WKRVH�WR\�0���ULÀHV�that make that really annoy-ing clicking sound when you pull the trigger,” Mottaghian said with a laugh. “(We each grabbed one) and ran through the aisles, hiding behind walls and using them as guards, pretending to shoot at each other. I don’t know how long we (lasted) before we were kicked out.” Dew also left an impact on GBHS staff, including science teacher Shane Dixon. “I remember he had very characteristic handwriting. As I recall, it was a fancy type of script – artistically unique,” Dixon said. GBHS 2010 graduate Lauren Paulson met Dew in Mimi Hafeman’s Spanish 2 class. Paulson remembers Dew’s
unique personality quirks. “His Spanish name was Ignacio, like Ignacio Libre (from the movie Nacho Li-bre),” Paulson said. “When-ever he was (called on in class, and) in a good mood, he would yell ‘Ignaaaaciooo!’ He liked that movie a lot.” Paulson and Dew kept in touch even after he gradu-ated; they would often watch zombie movies, play Wii and cook together. “He liked to make people feel comfortable and happy – he really cared about you,” Paulson said. McCuen recalls Dew’s distinct presence in the class-room. “(I can still picture him) com-ing in with his headphones on and his long hair, sitting down and throwing his feet up (on a chair),” McCuen said. She said Dew’s personality was evident when he would enthusiastically raise his hand in a way that no one else does: hand straight up, even though his whole body was relaxed. One of Dew’s personal achievements was earning his second-degree black belt in jujitsu. Despite his talent in the sport, many who knew him were impressed by how humble he was – McCuen said she didn’t even know Dew participated in jujitsu. “He never bragged about himself in class. (And ju-jitsu was) something that (in) our many conversations (he) could’ve brought up,” she said. After graduating, Dew EULHÀ\�DWWHQGHG�6LHUUD�&ROOHJH�before enlisting in the Ma-rines in March of 2009. The 20-year-old departed for Af-ghanistan in September 2010.
“(Victor) had been talking about joining for God knows how long – all eight years that I had known him,” Mot-taghian said. Both Mottaghian and Paul-son remember the big Marines ÀDJ�WKDW�ZDV�KDQJLQJ�RQ� WKH�wall in Dew’s room. “I thought he was completely meant for (the Marines),” Paulson said. “He had that military mindset; he wanted to protect his friends and protect his people.” Even though Dew’s fam-ily and friends supported his decision, they went through a myriad of emotions in re-sponse to his enlistment, ac-cording to Mottaghian. “I remember his mom al-ways talking about how ner-vous she was. I would always try to calm her down, saying ‘Hey, everything is going to be good – he’s a tough kid’,” Mottaghian said. “She was worried, anxious, proud, happy – just every single emotion you can imagine going through her and her husband.” Among the family and friends Dew left behind was his fiancée Courtney Gold, whom he proposed to at Dis-neyland weeks before he de-parted for Afghanistan. Mottaghian said Dew and Gold’s engagement epito-mized what Dew believed: “Live life the way you want to and don’t be afraid to take chances.” To those knew him, Dew was fun-loving, caring and always full of life. “There are few genuine, hon-est, good men in the world,” Seidman said. “Victor was one of them.”
responsible handling of sensitive issues page 15alison sale
We also want-ed to keep the
story relatively short, so that readers would not be intimidated by literally an entire life story. Even though we had many interviews and excellent quotes from other teachers and students, we VSHFL¿FDOO\�SODQQHG�out the story to cap-ture Victor’s person-ality and his time at GBHS and used only the very best quotes from our sources to illustrate that.
Responsible handling despite thReatpage 16 alison sale
In November, my co-editor and I started an
in-depth investigation of our school cafeteria. We contacted the food representative for our high school, and she (along with all other cafeteria workers) refused to comment. She referred us to the direc-tor of food services for the district. After several weeks (and countless e-mails,) we were able speak to him over the phone, and he informed us that he only responds to e-mail inter-views. In the meantime, we compared the menu listed on the website to the food actually served at school. I catalogued all of the vend-ing machine food items with a series of photo-graphs and we deciphered the nutrition information printed on the back of each package. Then, we com-pared it to the most recent state regulations – two of the items in the vending machines did fail. We asked for the nutri-tion information corre-sponding to the hot food served in the cafeteria, and it took three weeks for the district to e-mail us a document with more than 3,000 pages. It listed every ingredient ever used in the entire school district, with the nutrition facts listed per 100 grams of each ingredi-ent. Because of this, we could not compare our caf-eteria food with the state nutrition guidelines, so the story began to take a different
*** In recent years, the rise in students with food allergies has prompted the district to put more emphasis on making school foods safer for all stu-dents. The typical procedure re-quires students with food aller-gies to provide a doctor’s note to inform the school of what substances the student is aller-gic to and the degree of severity of that allergy. “If we’re given a doctor’s note, our menus are required to accommodate the student for what they need,” Brown said. “These students are keyed into
our computer system, and we then can tailor-make meals for them based on those needs.” Peanuts, dairy products and wheat seem to be the most prevalent allergies, according to Brown, with the occasional case of a fruit allergy. To get nutritional facts and information on ingredients served in the foods offered on campus, a master list of recipes is available for viewing in the cafeteria. Students with health concerns are allowed to read or make photocopies of the reci-pes. The Roseville Joint Union High School District has also invested in new software pro-grams that will allow nutrition facts to be posted online or HPDLOHG�LQ�D�3')�¿OH�� “The document that will be posted in about a month on individual school sites will carry that school’s menu in-gredients,” Brown said. “The version on the district website ZLOO�KDYH�D�PDVWHU�¿OH�RI�DOO�RXU�recipes available.” Efforts to make informa-tion about cafeteria food ingre-
Responsible handling despite thReat page 17alison sale
Obviously we could not com-pare our cafeteria
food to state nutrition guidelines – we had no information. So, the story took a new shape – one of our staff writers has severe food allergies and de-cided to reform the story with my help, because if we can’t get the correct nutrition information, students with allergies certainly can’t either. We tracked down the IRRG�GLUHFWRU¶V�RI¿FH�DQG��politely confronted him. He agreed to talk to us on the record, and he gave us valuable infor-mation for the future, in-cluding the names of the companies that provide RXU�IRRG�±�VSHFL¿FDOO\��our vending machine food, like those in viola-tion of state law. I wanted to maintain our relationship with the director as well, so I didn’t challenge him with the state regulation violations – the Ga-zette’s future interviews with him are more important than a few Poptarts.
dients more readily available for students are also under-way. A program called My Tray is currently being devel-oped by the district, which will allow a student to go online and put together a meal and see al the ingredients and different components involved to make it meet their require-ments. It is scheduled to be available prior to the start of the 2011-12 school year. “Until (My Tray) is up and running,” Brown said, “we’re going to have to keep working with students on a one-one-one basis to meet their food-related needs.” The changes in documenta-tion by the district will make nutrition information about cafeteria foods more avail-able for students, which may EHQH¿W�WKRVH�ZLWK�DOOHUJLHV��DV�ingesting something they are intolerant to can be dangerous. Depending on the severity of the allergy or intolerance, a reaction can trigger a variety of symptoms for someone who ingests a food that their body disagrees with. “Mild reactions might be hives, that can progress to a kind of tingling around the IDFH�´�QXUVH�/LQGD�:DU¿HOG�said. “The tongue and lips can swell, and in the worst case scenario, the throat swells up and breathing becomes dif-¿FXOW�´� Hives, facial swelling, and EUHDWKLQJ�GLI¿FXOWLHV�DUH�all characteristics of a life threatening reaction known as anaphylactic shock. However, not all allergies result in this type of reaction. Some other conditions allergic reactions may cause include skin irrita-tion, wheezing, stomach pain, nausea or headaches. The amount of time it takes
for a reaction to occur is also varied from person to person. “(A reaction) can be a pro-gression and take a little bit of time, or it can just happen WR�\RX�YHU\�TXLFNO\�´�:DU¿HOG�said. For the students that have the potential to experience severe reactions, most don’t bother taking the chance to eat food prepared by anyone other than themselves or their families. “Typically if students are al-lergic to something to such an extent that they are going to die from eating it, they won’t usually gamble in the cafete-ria,” Brown said. “Most don’t even gamble in restaurants.” Even for those students whose allergies and intoler-ances are not life-threatening, ensuring the safety of the foods they eat is a high prior-LW\�WKDW�LV�RIWHQ�DI¿UPHG�E\�the students bringing their own food. “It’s just easier for me to eat what I bring from home,” senior Sarah Chalmers, who is lactose-intolerant, said. “I know what goes in the food at that point because I’m the one making it– so it’s less risky.” Senior Katharine Leigh, who began experiencing an intolerance to tomatoes four years ago, also prefers to bring IRRG�IURP�KRPH±�¿QGLQJ�LW�to be the easiest and safest way for her to avoid the pos-sibility of coming in contact with tomatoes. “I don’t want to take the chance of eating something that would make me sick,” Leigh said. “Bring-ing food from home is the best way to do that.” When bringing personally prepared meals isn’t an option, students take extra precautions when eating out. “I have to
ask if the food is homemade if I’m eating (at another person’s house,)” Leigh said. “And at restaurants I always ask if the food is made with tomatoes just to be safe.” Chalmers said that when eating out, she can make deci-sions on what is safe to order based off of what is written about the food. “I can look at a menu and decipher what is and isn’t ok based off of ingredients and the description (of the dish).” When she does eat at the cafeteria, Leigh said she avoids foods that have the potential of containing toma-toes, and opts for more simple selections like salads that she knows won’t affect her. Others choose to avoid the cafeteria, and potentially harmful food all together. “I’ve never even gone to the snack bar before,” Chalmers said. But for those who don’t have an option, Brown said schools are more than willing to work with students based on their needs. “As we’ve seen a trend in the economy going down,” Brown said, “we’re having a lot of students district-wide who, in the past, (didn’t) chance the cafeteria needing to be able to eat at school, because that might be their only meal.” District and GBHS faculty encourage students to contact them in order to work through their issues and develop a plan to keep them safe at school. “The whole high school dis-trict is really willing to work with students and parents on DOO�RI�WKHVH�LVVXHV�´�:DU¿HOG�said.
responsible handling of sensitive issuespage 18 alison sale
When my co-editor’s
chewing tobacco article was pub-lished, I was repeat-edly approached and threatened by a baseball team member. The accu-sations were “tear-ing the team apart,” and the individual wanted to know who “sold them out.” But, I withstood the pressure and explained our policy regarding anonymity – only the reporter who grants anonym-ity knows the name of the individual.
�October 2010, Granite Bay Gazette – News
(A GBHS varsity baseball player) estimates that four or ¿YH�SOD\HUV�FKHZHG�WREDFFR�ODVW�\HDU��ZLWK�OLNHO\�D�FRXSOH�more this year.
responsible handling of sensitive issues page 19alison sale
I approached my interview with Alexa
Crawford carefully – I didn’t want to make her feel uncomfort-able by asking about her battle with cancer, but it was an impor-tant aspect of my story. I gained her trust by assuring her that the very private informa-tion she shared with me would remain pri-vate – I only printed quotes relevant to the story and appropriate for public audiences. I held a casual con-versation with her in which she explained in detail the health information so I could paraphrase and cen-sor it accurately if necessary.
�May 2010, Granite Bay Gazette – News
GBHS senior Alexa Crawford is one of those students who had a serious reason for miss-ing school: she was diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of her junior year and experienced another scare at the beginning of this school year. “At (one) point, I (had) 12 different doctors I (had) to work ZLWK��VR�LW�ZDV�UHDOO\�GLI¿FXOW�WR�JHW�D�VSHFL¿F�GRFWRU¶V�QRWH�WR�excuse one appointment.”
variety of journalistic experiences � onlinepage 20 alison sale
Before I went to the girls’
basketball game, I re-searched the team’s and individual’s sta-tistics for background information. When I arrived at the game, I already knew that Nevada Union was expected to beat GBHS. I took brief notes while watching the game, and at the end I received a few more statistics from the score-keeper. Within an hour of returning home, I posted my story on our website. I also convert my print stories to a web-friendly format. I up-loaded my dog park review with bigger color pictures, and a reader commented on the story with dog discipline sug-gestions.
On Friday, January 14, the Granite Bay High School girls’ basketball team met the Nevada Union High School Miners. The Miners held a lead until the third quarter, when the Grizzlies made a comeback as high scorer Cayley Mc-Dowell led her team back. In the fourth quarter, however, the Miners took control and won with a ¿QDO�VFRUH�RI�������
Nevada Union’s in-your-face defense confused the Grizzlies and forced turnovers, and the 0LQHUV�MXPSHG�RXW�WR�DQ�HDUO\�OHDG�RI������DW�halftime.
Preston drained a three-pointer at the beginning of the third quarter, followed by senior Alexa Wolf’s basket. McDowell sunk a three-pointer, which was followed by two free throws shot by :ROI��0F'RZHOO�VXQN�DQRWKHU�WUH\��W\LQJ�WKH�JDPH�DW�������
variety of journalistic experiences � online page 21alison sale
Before this year, the Ga-
zette had several )DFHERRN�SUR¿OHV�and fan pages, DQG�LW�ZDV�GLI¿FXOW�WR�¿JXUH�RXW�ZKR�was maintaining which one. ���6RPH�RI�RXU�readers even tried WR�FRPPXQLFDWH�ZLWK�XV�RQ�WKH�wrong Facebook page, and we didn’t see the com-PHQW�XQWLO�ZHHNV�later. After I went to a seminar on social PHGLD�DW�D�MRXUQDO-ism convention, I VWDUWHG�WKH�RI¿FLDO�Granite Bay Ga-zette fan page. Now, I post sta-WXV�XSGDWHV�ZLWK�OLQNV�WR�RXU�ZHE-site. I also allowed other editors to be administrators of WKH�JURXS��ZKLFK�DOORZV�RXU�PDLQ�photographer to post new photos DQG�WDJ�VWXGHQWV�LQ�WKHP��ZKLFK�EXLOGV�RXU�FRPPXQLFDWLRQ�network.
variety of journalistic experience � photography page 22alison sale
variety of journalistic experience � writing page 23alison sale
I wanted to broaden my journalistic
horizons and write a sports story, even though I don’t particularly enjoy watching or read-ing about sports. After it was pub-lished, the Positive Coaching Alliance headquarters for California contact-ed me to link my story to the front page of their web-site, and I allowed them to do so.
� Feb. 2010, Granite Bay Gazette – Sports
variety of journalistic experience � writingpage 24 alison sale
variety of journalistic experiences � writing page 25alison sale
I normally write columns
about personal experience, so I wanted to break outside of my comfort zone and address an impor-tant issue. But I didn’t want to beat a dead horse per se (the state of California’s budget and educa-tion system) so I put an original spin on it with my Su-perman and movie references. I also wanted to establish my cred-ibility by citing an expert in creativity.
I have a black and white photograph of my dad, suspenders and all, on his way to school in Kindergarten – to a one-room schoolhouse, that is. It’s strange to think that my own father participated in this “ancient” form of schooling – after all, that ZDV�RQO\�¿IW\�RU�VR�\HDUV�DJR� Our schools have come so far, with our Smartboards and fancy shmancy Scantrons, VLQFH�WKH�FUHDWLRQ�RI�WKH�RQH�VL]H�¿WV�DOO�public education system during the Indus-trial Revolution. But have we really done much else other than adding new technol-ogy, segregating the students by age and WKHQ�IRUFLQJ�PRUH�RQHVL]H�¿WV�DOO�VWDQGDUG-ized testing down their throats? I think a better question would be: if we’ve come so far, where the heck are we going? Because it is certainly not towards a futurefull of unexpected, complex issues that our standardized, misguided minds can’t even begin to help us solve.���7KH�¿OPPDNHU�ZKR�SURGXFHG�An Incon-venient Truth jumped on this education reform bandwagon because apparently, we – the average American citizens – are sitting back, twiddling our thumbs, and Waiting for Superman to save our children from this horrid system. But the problem is this: we already have the solution – you have it, I have it, we all do. It’s just never been brought to the world’s attention. Until now. I found the super man that our not-so-super education system has been waiting for, and not to my surprise, I found him on Facebook. His name: Sir Ken Robinson. His game: innovation and human resourc-
es. He’s worked with government agencies in Europe, America and Asia to improve education, creativity and the economy. He’s recently published a New York Times Best Seller book, and he’s received more honorary degrees and awards from presti-gious universities than I can remember. OK, maybe Robinson doesn’t have the dorky red briefs or the famous symbol em-broidered on his chest (he was knightedby Queen Elizabeth II – for goodness’ sake, isn’t that proof enough?), but he does have something of value: creativity.It’s something he believes we all have – we’re born with it, but the problem is that our curriculum beats it out of us. From the beginning of our pre-K years, we are taught to take tests, and to answer themwith the one right answer, or ail. From the beginning, we are trained to strangle any thoughts of innovation, of creating new solutions to the problem because that’s not what’s on the answer key. So then, if the answer to our economic situation isn’t an expanded government or tax breaks to the middle class, I’d like to see that answer key. Oh, right, it doesn’t exist. If real life doesn’t have one answer or a pass-fail mentality, then why are we taught and raised to believe that? Because that’s how public education was originally set up. But Robinson believes that creativity can be measured because it’s not “abstract”. To be creative, you must do something, take action – you must create some kind of “practical outcome,” whether in math class, in music, or in chemistry experiments. The key is that creativity can be judged on this basis; this allows the student to explore new ground and create new solu-tions, but still provides guidelines to be graded by. If our super man is standing by ready to save the world, I ouldn’t mind if our termi-nator of a governor took a step back and let the real super man take the wheel for once.
***Alison Sale, a senior, is a Gazette co-editor-in-chief.
