Journalism is one of the building blocks of America as we know it. It is an essential part of the country as well as the schools within it, including Atlantic High School. The journalistic team here at AHS involves some of the most creative and innovative people in the school. AHS Journalism offers many mediums of news as well as bringing an inclusive working environment where everyone feels like a team. Journalism advisor Allison Berryhill provides an open-minded aspect to the class while maintaining ethical and moral standards.

If you want to join journalism at AHS (which I recommend you do) you must first take a year’s worth of introduction classes: Intro to Journalism during the first semester and Journalism Production during the second semester. These classes provide students with the initial concepts and core values of what it means to be a journalist. These kids learn how to write profiles and stories, learn the techniques of camera use, and organize and design their own yearbook spreads. After this class, there are three other journalism classes taught at the school: newspaper, broadcasting, and yearbook.

Of course, there is the newspaper side to journalism which can be found on our very own website, AHSneedle.com. The newspaper journalists are dedicated and hardworking, always working to make the next deadline and enter stories as submissions for contests. They come up with unique topics for stories that relate to our school. Editors and writers work together, contributing to every caption, lede-in, and website design. This is the perfect class for you to take if you are an avid writer, storyteller, and are goal-oriented.

The next course offered in the AHS journalism department is broadcasting which features the news show Eye of the Needle, as well as podcasts, The Point and The Thread. The characteristics of broadcast journalists are confidence, filming/editing skills, and an inviting personality.

The broadcasters strive to improve every episode of each show they are filming. The Eye of the Needle visual show features schools news, sports, fine arts, athlete of the week, and advertisements in the form of commercials – all filmed, edited, and written by the students themselves.

There are two podcasts for AHS, with both of them having their own individual aspects. The main podcast, The Point, offers a leisurely take on school news and features the students and their opinions. It has just gone through a revamp.

The Thread is the school’s secondary podcast, as it is mostly used as a practice tool for Journalism Production students. Both auditory news sources are entertaining and informative. Podcasting requires its hosts to be inclusive and opinionated, as well as self-assured and organized.

The last branch of the journalism department is yearbook, the team responsible for creating The Javelin. This team works to create the Javelin spreads, formulate captions, and take award-winning photographs for the yearbook. This team raises money for the books by selling sponsorships to local businesses. A good yearbooker must be a go-getter when it comes to selling advertisements. This means being persuasive and courageous. An eye for keen details and picturesque settings are also good properties to have. Yearbookers are clever and are leaders at heart.

Do you see parts of yourself in one or more of these branches? If you possess the qualities of any of these, I highly encourage you to join journalism as soon as you can. You could be a part of something huge, a skilled team of students reporting the news and having fun. Journalism is one of the best programs to be a part of in the school and could lead to so many career opportunities such as; design (graphic, web, etc.), videography, writing, marketing, photography, and of course, becoming a real-life journalist.

I think journalism is an underrated elective in our school. If more kids got involved, we would be able to expand the program exponentially, plus, more students would be aware of the things that are happening within the building and learn how to connect them to real-life issues. Being a journalist gives me a voice and I know that many students at our school would benefit from telling their stories through pictures and words on paper. It is one of the best creative outlets and that is why you should join journalism today.

Take this quiz to find out what kind of journalist you are: https://www.buzzfeed.com/doswalt2023/what-kind-of-journalist-are-you-2jov6ufh01