By: Avalynne Russell

     With the publication of our newspaper, the W-IKE News Show and so many fun projects, the Journalism and the new Communications classes always have a lot of fun things going on behind the scenes. In this issue of The Squire, we will be highlighting these programs here at Eisenhower, and giving you a little bit of a look at what exactly we do, with some input for our amazing advisor Miss Howe and a junior who has done both Journalism and Communications, Alyssa Wismar.

     This year, Miss Howe has started a new class called Arts and Communications Stem Pathway here at EHS. While there is a similar program at the Warren County Career Center, this program is unique in that it is only one period a day, we produce a weekly news show called W-IKE News, and work in a brand-new tv studio, complete with a teleprompter, tricaster, greenscreen, and an iMac with editing software, which we use to do projects and put our finishing touches on the news show.

     The Squire asked Miss Howe why she likes teaching this class, along with journalism, and she stated that, “I love the hands-on learning that takes place in these courses. Very rarely am I standing in front of the students teaching ‘at’ them; instead, they are learning by actually using the technology and creating the product. Every day is something new and sometimes unpredictable.” Upon asking Wismar the same question, she gave us a very similar answer of, “My favorite aspect of journalism and communications has to be the fact that we get to creatively share news and inform others. I continue to take journalism and comm because I love being able to find new ways to improve our news show, newspaper, and media outlets.” When we film the news show, we get to do a lot of fun things when we film special segments, such as Knightwalking. We have done so many things, from Bean Boozled to guess the song’s decade, and we are always open to new ideas as we brainstorm most of our ideas for the news show together, and often in collaboration with the Journalism class. Wismar also shared that, “I love the vibe of the group of people, everyone’s so welcoming because everyone goes through the same ‘embarrassment levels’ in order to produce a funny news show or video.”

     Although these classes work together, they are very different, as many Communications students also take Journalism. We also work in the T.V. studio, but, in Journalism, we tend to focus more on the writing side of things; for example, we publish this newspaper. When we asked Miss Howe what her favorite part about teaching Journalism is, she explained, “I love the creativity that comes with planning classes in journalism and communications. I also love to write, so I enjoy that journalism and comm combine writing and creativity into a product that communicates a message to the public. It is fun to formulate the ideas and try to approach the message in a way that will engage the audience.” In this class we write practice news articles, create podcasts and commercials, and, this year, journalism two even created a reality show.

     Since Miss Howe has been the advisor of this club for so long, we were wondering why she likes that position. She told us, “I like seeing the students through the process of originating an idea, creatively figuring out how to execute the plan, and producing a final product. It is fun to see them so involved and engaged, and exciting to see all of the ideas they come up with.”  As journalism students, we also go on a lot of entertaining field trips, and some of them are to compete in writing and broadcasting competitions. We asked what Miss Howe’s favorite field trip has been, and she told us, “One of my favorite trips has been a trip we took years ago to Philadelphia. My college roommate is a producer of the Philly ABC affiliate, and we received a special tour of the news studio, which is one of the best in the country. During the visit we met with my former roommate and her colleagues to learn more about the field. We also got to tour many of Philadelphia’s historical sites and enjoyed some amazing food and coffee. It was fun and informative!” Additionally, Wismar told us that, “My favorite journalism field trip that I’ve been on was when we went to Penn State Beherend last fall. I loved how they had different workshops with different workshops with different speakers where we got to see the equipment that the college uses for their communications department, including their radio room and their green screen room that they use for their news show. It was a really nice campus and a fun trip.”

     With all this being said, we hope that you join our Journalism and Communications family in the school years to come! The Squire would also like to thank Miss Howe and Wismar for taking time out of their very busy schedules for answering our questions. Stay classy and be sure to check out the other articles in this edition of The Squire!