Journalism is a new elective at Blaine this year! It is a student-run elective where each kid has an editorial position and gets to write about all different kinds of news articles. There are all sorts of articles in The Paw Press, for example: we have many current events and sports articles, as well as features and school news. In addition, as to writing articles, we will learn about writing strategies and AP formatting style in Journalism. Another part of Journalism will be Elementary and Middle school articles that feature both elementary and middle school interviews voicing their opinions and perspectives on different topics. Also, your own articles and art will be chosen each month by our team, which will be featured on the website. This will allow more people to get involved with the paper and hopefully get more excited about it! We will be publishing new articles every week and will have announcements and breaking news at the top of the news site. We want this to be a fun and informative community for all to enjoy! 

Serena (editor in chief): I don’t really have a particular vision for this class, but I think that The Paw Press should be a space where students can learn about the world and can feel comfortable submitting articles or art. This is Blaine’s school paper; it should reflect who we are as a community!  I want journalism to be fun and have people look forward to this class.  

Zoe (editor in chief): My vision for this class was to have a creative group of people also interested in journalism and the news like me. I wanted this to be a fun experience for anyone who was interested in being a journalist. This class can give students a chance to lead something that makes them excited about writing. I believe that this can be beneficial for any student who decides to take journalism, even if they don’t like it by the end of the semester. It’s a good opportunity to try something new.  

We interviewed two 6th graders, two 8th graders, and one teacher to hear their opinions on the paper.  

James Thomas (JT) 8th grade, 10 years at Blaine. 

• When you think of journalism, what do you think about? JT: “Writing” 
• What would you like out of the paper? JT: “A better school lunch and vending machine.” 
• Would you want to be a part of your high school paper? JT: “I don’t think so” 
• If you could write an article, what would you write about? JT: “The beauty of not writing” By JT Kelly 

Finn 6th grade, 7 years at Blaine. 

• When you think of journalism, what do you think about? Finn: “The news I guess, writing in general.” 
• What do you think of the paper? Finn: “I think it’s pretty cool!” 
• Would you want to be a part of the Paw Press? Finn: “Maybe” 
• If you could write an article, what would you write about? Finn: “Something about sloths.” 

Grace: 8th grade, 9 years at Blaine.  

• When you think of journalism what do you think of? Grace: “Writing”  
• What would you like out of the paper? Grace: “Polls would be fun”  
• Would you like to take it in High School? Grace: “No” 
• If you could write an article, what would it be about? Grace: “Why the school should get a vending machine” 

Leo: 6th grade, 2 years at Blaine. 

• When you think of journalism what do you think of? Leo: “propaganda and how news is sometimes informative and sometimes not”  
• Would you like to take it next year? Leo: “Maybe” 
• If you could write an article, what would it be about? Leo: “politics” 

Mr. Self has been here since 1999, which was the second year that Blaine has been a K-8. During his time at Blaine, he helped with The Roar, which was our past school paper. We asked him about his thoughts on the paper. He answered that some cool things to include would be sports predictions, asking students questions and seeing how they respond at different ages, and live, recorded videos of interviews. We also asked him what he thinks about the news today. He answered that the news has gotten too political and opinionated, it should just be informational. To get his news, he listens to NPR and podcasts and goes online for CNN, The New York Times, and BBC.  

Our entire team of journalists are very proud to publish their articles every week for you (the readers). They devote so much time and effort into their pieces. We (Serena and Zoe) are also thrilled to have advocated for this class; since we are both interested journalists. We hope that you enjoy the newly revitalized paper and hope you try out this class next year!