Countryside High School Paw Print Newspaper Volume 41 Issue 3

Make a Change: Social Movement Clubs

At Countryside, there are a plentiful amount of clubs you can join to expand your horizons, make new friends, and make changes at Countryside! Some of the clubs that can create a positive change are Student Government (SGA), Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), and Prom Committee.

Student government is a club where students from each grade can represent their class and run events that the school creates. One of the largest events that Student Government helps plan is homecoming. They get the opportunity to choose the theme, decorations, and the shirt designs for the dance. Student Government also helps out other clubs by allocating them funds to perform fun tasks! Some of these are helping pay for Grad Bash, the AP Human Geography Epcot field trip, and even helping to fund the newspaper! It gives students great leadership opportunities and a way to have their opinions heard.

SADD club is a service organization that promotes safety for students! They help students by preventing them from making destructive decisions and frequently put inspirational posters around the school. SADD club is a great way to make a lasting impact on the community and make sure classmates are staying safe and always making the right choice!

Prom Committee is a group of Juniors and Seniors who want to help plan prom and the events leading up to it. The prom fashion show is the first event that this group prepares, this helps promote local businesses form any prom items that are needed! At the same time students can model and show off their style. At the same time, this group is planning for prom. To plan the event the group has to come up with everything such as theme, designing tickets and shirts, setting up the venue, and making decorations! If you enjoy creating events, having a say in the prom theme, and making sure you enjoy prom, then you should join the committee!

Cougar Hearts of Gold

Service clubs have been growing and catching the eyes of several students this year. Key Club is a service organization that helps people in need. Some of their community projects are collecting money during Halloween for UNICEF, making toys for children in hospitals, and Pennies for Patients. Lindsey Neufarth, a member of the club describes it as “fun and exciting”. Key Club opens the door to many volunteer opportunites that can help with college applications and scholarships. The sponsor of the club, Mr. Siemion truly enjoys the work they do.

Interact Club has been working hard this year with ‘The Big Red Bus’ appearing at Countryside

throughout the school year to donate blood. Student, Drake Sellas likes to donate because it is “for a good cause.” Students who are 16 and older are able to donate without a parent’s approval, making it easier to donate blood. Donations support people who need blood transplants after tragic events or routine surgeries.

National Honor Society is an organization for upperclassmen who are looking to make an impact on their school community, improve academic achievement, and maintain leadership roles. Member, Michele Tighe, says “it encourages students to prioritize their volunteer hours” and “helps build great character and leadership skills”. Every Friday, the club does volunteer work inside and outside the school. The work that

is done around the school consists of mainly classroom and desk cleanups for teachers. Teachers have responded well to this student outreach, Mr. Shellgren says, “it really helps the learning environment by having a neat and clean space to work in”. After every month, all the volunteer hours are collected to turn in to meet their mandatory requirements.

When applying for the Bright Futures Scholarship, a minimum of 75 community service hours of volunteer work is needed. If you are looking for a way to connect while earning service hours, Key Club, Interact Club, and National Honor Society are great opportunities offered at Countryside.

In it to Win it: Competition Clubs

At Countryside, there are a variety of clubs offerred where you can compete and achieve great things! If winning is your favorite hobby, you should consider joining these hardworking clubs.

Youth in Government (YIG) is a mock government club where students can choose to be in the legislative program or the judicial program, just like officials in the government. The students who are in the legislative craft their very own bill attempting to fix an issue they notice in Florida. These bills can range anywhere from environmental issues to educational issues, anything a person is interested in! In the judicial program, students are assigned a court case, either criminal or civil. Once

The Youth in Government club with Governor, Ron DeSantis, who they met during their annual trip to Tallahassee.

assigned, students get to act as lawyers do and find precedent such as Supreme Court cases or Florida Statutes that are supporting their case. The members travel to Tallahassee annually to present their work in the State Capitol and the Florida Supreme Court!

President, Brooke Micallef said, “I had always been interested in law but I did not truly know what I wanted to do...after joining Youth in Government and winning best law firm in the state, I knew that this was something I loved to do.” She reccomends that anyone who is interested in political action should join this club.

The next competition club at Countryside is Future Bussiness Leaders of America (FBLA). This club is to help students prepare for the workforce and what it is

At the FBLA Fall Conference, five Countryside students won first place and one student achieved second place!

like to be in a bussiness. There are over 100 certification tests ranging from accounting to corporate law. Once a student has taken and passed these tests they can earn certifications in a variety of skills.

Academic team is a club that practices knowledge of a variety of subjects including music, math, history, and foreign language. The team then has a quizbowl like competition against local high schools every other week to see which school holds more knowledge on the subjects presented.

Overall, if you are interested in competing and winning, you should consider joinging Countryisde’s most competitive organizations!

Countryside’s Academic Team competed at home in our library. At this match, the team placed second out of all the schools present.

Student Government meets in the concourse to decorate the concourse for the homecoming dance.

SADD club bowls at the Fall Festival to promote their club and community involvment!

The Fresh Prints of CHS

andreaLANDA-CRUZ staff writer

Countryside provides students with a variety of electives to choose from. Whether it is a culinary class, drivers ed, or a foreign language class students want to sign up for, Countryside has an elective for every individual. Some electives that are looking to expand in the journalism department are UPC, Newspaper, and Yearbook.

Dayton Huntsman, Executive Producer and Director of Upper Pinellas County TV (UPC), explained that the main goal of UPC is to provide fun content that students want to watch evry day during third period.

Huntsman said, “it is a very fun class but at the same time you are learning how real world skills like public speaking, handling technology, and writing. It basically provides a work setting, like you are in a TV studio.”

Dayton enjoys his TV production class thouroughly and looks forward to creating stories and filming new segments. “My favorite part about being in UPC is working with people who have similar interests as me because we get to turn an interesting idea into a video that the whole school can see,” says Huntsman.

Another class that students should consider

Family and Consumer Sciences

oliviaDYDZUHN business manager

In traditional academic classes, students struggle with finding the “real life” meaning behind what they are taught. Many feel that they will not need to know square roots, how to write a five paragraph essay, or information about past wars when they are in the workforce.

In Countryside High School’s Family and Consumer Sciences Department (FACS), students are taught life skills such as how to care for a child, how to sew and how to create food. These skills are valuable in real life and are taught in this department. In Mrs. Keller’s early childhood development classes, students have the opportunity to get a PRE-K certification which will help them get a job working with children in the future. This certification allows them to start teaching young children once they graduate. Mrs. Keller believes it helps students if they plan to become a teacher, a parent or even if they have brothers and sisters that they babysit. Keller states, “the best part of the early childhood development classes for my students is how they get to work with preschoolers and actually teach them lessons.”

Nutrition and wellness, which is taught by Mrs. Steers, teaches students skills such as how to prepare and save food. This class is unique because students learn how to make food, which is a necessary skill for the future. Mrs. Steers feels that students should take her nutrition and wellness classes because “the students learn valuable life lessons.”

If you are looking for an elective course that will provide you with real world skills, these are the courses for you!

signing up for is yearbook. “We try to make a yearbook that will fully commemorate the year with every student playing a part in it,” says Harrison Bradshaw. Harrison is part of the yearbook staff, where students have the responsibility of creating the spreads containg pictures from the activies at school year-round. The yearbook covers all school topics such as clubs, sports, student life, and academics.

The Pride Yearbook course assists students in learning photography, interacting with peers through interviews, and desigining page layouts. Bradshaw continued, “It is a really cool experience being on staff. It is not an easy class, but it is very rewarding to know that you helped form a part in the schools history. You get to be a part of something that will always be on record.”

Much like yearbook, where you design pages, create stories, and have a printed final product, newspaper is a special class that has something to offer for everyone.

Brooke Micallef, is the Editor-In-Chief of the Paw Print Newspaper. She explained what goes on behind the scenes of the newspaper class. “Newspaper is a course where you produce five issues a school year. To produce one issue students are actively writing stories, creating graphics, designing pages, and putting all of that

together to create the final product of an eight page paper.”

There are different leadership opportunities within the course of which are assigned different tasks. Some students work solely on story writing, where others learn to use Adobe programs to create relevant graphics and layout a page.

Brooke continued, “as a class we come up with the whole concept of each issue from start to finish. We start with story ideas and from there everyone recieves their assignment... I edit the stories to be print ready, design the front and back cover, create graphics for each page, and get the newspaper ready for print.”

Brooke believes many students should join newspaper and said, “this class is very fun and laid back but you also get to learn skills with that you would not learn in other classes . We become very skilled in Photoshop and InDesign because these programs allow us to successfully design pages and graphics for the newspaper.”

Many students should consider joining these courses. Not only are they filled with fun experiences, but they are beneficial in a way that will help students in the future and they look great on college applications! When joining any one of these journalism classes, you are not just joining the course, you are joing the family!

maeJOHNSON category editor

Students who wish to unleash their inner artist at Countryside have a plethora of options when it comes to classes. These unique and creative classes, paired along with superb teachers, create an informative and entertaining class experience. These courses - chorus, band, drama, art, and graphic design - are fit for beginners and experts alike and bring joy to learning.

If theatre seems the most intriguing out of these options, there are numerous classes to decide between. For beginners, Theatre 1, Musical Theater 1, and Technical theatre 1 are offered, or all of these classes go up to 4 honors for more advanced students. When it comes to performing onstage, theatre and musical theatre are the best choices; theatre 1 focuses the most on

acting, while musical theatre is about singing and performing. Technical theatre teaches students about what happens behind the scenes.

Band, taught by Mr. Parrulli, is a fantastic art class that teaches both beginners and experienced students how to play and strive further with instruments. There are many options when it comes to band classes, as band 1-5 can be taken. Not only do you learn how to play an instrument in band, but also the importance of music in our lives. Chorus, taught by Mrs. King, teaches students to use a different kind of instrument - your voice. Both band and chorus compete from the region all the way to the state level.

2D and 3D art are the next art classes of Countryside.

2D art, taught by Ms. Leja, teaches the basics of art that can be created on paper, such

as painting and drawing. 3D art teaches the same basic concepts, but art that is created off of the paper, such as clay, paper mache, etc. These classes are also offered in AP courses for skilled and determined students. These classes are very beneficial as a class to learn or master a skill.

Lastly, graphic design is the final art class offered to Countryside students. This class is taught by Mr. Coriarty and teaches students how to design on computers. These skills. Taught from beginner to expert, can be used daily as more and more careers require the knowledge of how apps like Photoshop and Indesign work.

As technology continuously advances, it is important for students to know how to keep up and use these new technologies, something that is taught in Graphic Design.

Senior Katlyn Patterson is pictured with the Little Cougar Class as she gains her certification!

Photo credit Olivia Dydzuhn

All photo credit Ms. Leja

Art club members participate in making Pinellas beautiful by painting local trash cans and water drains! For this specific trash can, members decided on creating a trolley to mimic Clearwater’s infamous ‘Jolley Trolley’.

katieTURK category editor

Countryside High School has a large variety of science classes you can take with varying levels. One of the classes available is anatomy, a class where students get to learn about the body and how certain parts function on all different types of animals and humans.

Anatomy is a great class to take when trying to become a doctor, nurse, therapist, or even a dentist. Paula Garcia Lardairo says, “It’s interesting learning about how the body works and all the things that I can use from this class will be very helpful for me when im older in my future career.” Another science class to take is Environmental science where you learn about things in the outside world and what is happening to prevent or fix things wrong with the oceans, lands, and atmosphere. Mary Stevens says, “I really enjoy having Mrs. Mac as my teacher, We talk about things that are going on outside the classroom and real world problems.” If you want to learn more about the ocean and the creatures in the ocean, Marine Biology is a great option. Also in this class the students learn about local things around them in Florida that we need, like Mangroves, Estuaries, and much more. Many students taking marine science enjoy the fun field trips Mrs. Ferreira plans, such as going to aquariums and visiting schools. If you are interested in advancing your skills in science or looking for a career in science in the future, some options are AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental, and multiple types of AP Physics classes to choose from.

BUSiNESS

nydiaKUSHTA category editor

Students who wish to learn more about programs used on computers every day or students looking to become entrepreneurs may be interested in taking a business class at Countryside.

Digital Information Technology (DIT), which is taught by Mr. Coriarty and Mr. Smith, is a prerequisite for the business classes available at Countryside. It teaches the basics of how to interact with computers and their programs, such as Word, Powerpoint, and Excel.

After taking DIT there are many options to furthermore your digital technology skills, such as Computer Science Information Technology (CSIT), Cybersecurity, etc.

In these classes, students are able to receive their certifications in these programs, as well as learn overall business structures and management skills which can be used on your resume for future jobs as well as help you in your job in the future.

The Core Four Science Math

Countryside supports all different levels of math courses, for students that may need extra help to ones that are wanting to advance their skills. From being in Liberal Arts all the way to AP Calculus BC, students can learn a lot and there are also tons of elective maths to take too.

AP Statistics is one elective math class students have the option to take. It’s taught by Mr. Siemion who says that students who should take the class should be, ““Any student with a strong foundation in Algebra 2.” Siemion also says that “ We know that more than 90% of students need stats for their college degree. So it is a course that people don’t recognize is mandatory for most professions. It’s really a science class with very little math, but you have to understand what the math is saying.”

Another option for students willing to advance their math skills is AP Calculus AB and BC. Mrs. Springer, one of the calculus teachers, says “student’s that got a’s and b’s in pre-calc that wanna work hard” should consider taking the class.

AVID is the class that will help you with all your other classes. It’s for students in AP or honors level classes that have a desire to go to college and want an academic elective that will support them with the application process. Mrs. Prince, the AVID Coordinator, explains that ,“Kids interested in AVID should be really wanting that, having that drive, that ambition”.

AVID caters differently to each grade level: freshman work on study skills, sophomores work on study skills and career explorations, juniors work on ACT and SAT prep and college exploration, and seniors work on completing college applications, applying for financial aid and scholarships, and taking the SAT or ACT.

Prince continues that “Currently right now, our seniors have over $200,000 in scholarships and every single one of our seniors have been accepted to a 4 year university or have a military commitment.” Alejandro Santa Maria is a student who received a full ride to Grinnell College due to the assistance he received in AVID, he says that “AVID introduced me to all these different scholarships and gave me time to look at them and figure out which ones were right for me and fill out the applications. It gave me the opportunity and chance to do it.”

nydiaKUSHTA category editor

Four and More

S o c i la Studies

In order to get your high school degree you need to have a U.S history credit, world history credit, a U.S government credit, and an economics credit. There are lots of social studies classes available for students willing to challenge themselves. One elective class available is AP Psychology, which is a class that teaches you about the human psyche and why people act the way they do. Mr. Younge is the teacher for the class and he says that “People should take this class because it relates to everyday life, from learning about memory to how to interact with other people.”

Students who are interested in the development of people and their cultures would probably be interested in taking AP Human Geography. This class focuses on the studies of community, culture and interactions with the environment and is taught by Mrs. Schuster.

AP U.S. history, also taught by Mrs. Schuster, says “Students who take these classes can learn to be more tolerant, well rounded and overall more intelligent.”

World History is a mandatory class to take for graduation, but students looking for a challenge can take the AP version. It is taught by Mr. Davis and you learn about wars, trade, and development of countries.

Another mandatory class to take is U.S. Government, this class can help students form their own political opinions and is good for students interested in debating. AP United States Government is taught by Mrs. Tait.

Language

For students who are aiming to advance their writing and reading skills there are two AP English classes available for students at Countryside, AP Language and Composition and AP Literature.

Mrs. Brussow is the teacher for AP Lang and she says that the kind of students that should take the class are “students who are motivated to learn, who enjoy reading nonfiction, and who enjoy argument. They can’t be afraid to do some critical thinking and lots of writing. Students who aren’t afraid to speak in class, because that’s a requirement. You really need to be motivated and want it.” Overall, the class consists of advancing writing, logic, argument, and critical reading.

Arts

After taking AP lang the normal progression is to take AP Lit next. AP lit is great preparation for literary analysis for college level work. The teacher for AP Lit, Mrs. Hunter has expressed how “it’s a senior level class but some juniors come in as well. It’s a lot of collaboration with other students. If you love literature, reading, poetry, drama, Shakespeare or learning about world classics” it’s a good option for you to take.

Other than AP level classes there are two dual enrollment classes available for students at Countryside, Comp 1 and Comp 2, which are each semester long classes.

emmaCHENAULT category editor

photo credit Nydia Kushta

Get Your Head in the Game

category editor

Track, Tennis, Baseball, and Flag football are the sports to watch this spring season. The time to tryout has passed for all but flag football, which will be held late February or early March.

Tennis is a great sport, Gabor Borbely says. “I got into tennis because my family really enjoyed playing the sport which made me really want to play the sport and eventually love it.” Tennis can be played individually or as doubles if team sports are your preference.

Another sport especially for girls to join is Flag Football. Flag Football is similar to regular football, you just cannot touch the other opponents. It also involves cardio and hand eye-coordination. “I joined flag football because I have grown up

playing football with my little brother and I saw that our school had a team so I figured why not and realized I actually enjoy the sport,” Lindsay Neufie says.

Another sport that involves a lot of cardio and coordination is track. Track is a good way make some new friends. “I think it’s going to go way better than last year because we’ve all improved so much throughout the year” says Amirah Ahmed. Track is a sport that has a lot to offer; it is vertsitile with a variety of options that require a combination of speed, strength, and agility, such as pole vault and hurdles.

There are many more things you experience in all of these sports: why not tryout and find out for

love these sports and the coaches encourage you to try out. If any of these sports interest you, tryout next year or this year, if it is not too late.

ALook Back on Winter Sports

As the Spring season begins to bloom, it’s time to look back at the successful Winter sports season. All of the Cougar sports teams had outstanding seasons, winning at home and away games, and making a strong presence at District and State competitions.

The Varsity soccer coach, Cameron Burnes, was ecstatic to have an extremely strong team this school year. The team had 5 wins, 8 losses and 4 ties.

The Basketball teams still have a bit of their season to finish, but so far the Girls Basketball team has a record of 6-10, despite having a smaller team in contrast to past years. The Varsity Boys Basketball team has an ongoing record of 9-9 and JV 1-4.

The wrestling team is having an incredible season this year. During the district championship matches Countryside’s students performed well. Ethan Grimes, Steve Chopek, Brian Burburija and Desmon Marshall all got first place in their weight classes. In addition, Kevin Nguyen, Chase Niles, Tristan Pinkerton and Nick Granata all placed in second place.

Most of the team are moving on to the district finals even though this year the team is young with lots of new freshmen.

Running some laps, the boys track team for practices pushing themselves to get better.

The girls track team was in a group huddle celebrating their hard work at practice.

Leo Garcia getting ready to sike out his opponent going in for a layup.

Presenting the fierce Lady Cougar soccer team for this school year!

The boys basketball team having a team discussion during timeout.

photo credit: Leo Garcia

photo credit: Leo Garcia

photo credit: Madison Gardner

photo credit: Coach Atherholt

photo credit: Brooke Micallef

Junior Thomas Monaghan practices on his returning swing against his opponents.

photo credit: Coach Atherholt

Early College or Advanced Placement?

category editor

When it comes to accelerated classes offered at Countryside, there are a plethora of options for determined students. Students looking to earn college credit while in high school can either partake in advanced placement (AP) classes or the early college program offered by Saint Petersburg College (SPC). Luckily, Countryside offers these for striving students.

AP classes are courses that allow you to gain college credit while still in high school and are overseen by the College Board, the same organization who runs the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test). AP classes require an exam at the end of the year that covers the entire curriculum of that class, scored one through five. No matter what grade you have earned for an AP class throughout the year, in order to acquire college credit you must get a three or higher on the test. The concept of having one major test at the end of the year that decides whether or not you get college dredit seems scary; however, I feel like this is better because you can study for the end

of the year AP test.

Margaryta Polishchuk, a Junior graduating early, will have taken thirteen AP courses by the time she graduates with the class of 2020.

“I would highly recommend AP courses because it is an international curriculum and counts as college credit wherever you go to college, not just in state. Most out of state colleges don’t accept or transfer early college credits, so AP courses make more sense,” Margaryta stated. When it comes to tips for the AP exam, she advises to “get a study book and study to see what exactly will be on the test; the AP exams are standardized and not up to the discretion of your teacher.”

Early college gives high schoolers the option to be a full-time college student at Saint Petersburg College while still being enrolled as a high schooler. This program allows students to have freedom in their schedule and enter a fouryear university with many credits. I can see the appeal of early college because you have the freedom to create your own schedule, but I think that it takes away from having a high school experience.

Rebecca Bandy, a Senior, will be graduating from Countryside in the spring with her Associate’s degree from early college.

“AP was always super stressful because it moved so fast; while you move fast at SPC, the classes are small and teachers make sure you know what’s happening. The professors are very focused on your success,” she expressed. She enjoys early college and prefers it over AP, stating “you have the freedom to do what you want, there are longer breaks, and the classes are rigorous but pay off.”

As a student who has taken both dual enrollment and AP courses throughout high school, both options are equally tough, but staying on campus seems more convincing to me because you get to enjoy your high school years.. In the end, it is ultimately up to the student on what will be best for them. Everybody has different preferences on how they like to learn; each option gives students the freedom to choose their own path that will satisfy their learning needs.

Graduating Early: Is It Too Soon?

taurissaDORSEY staff writer

Approximately 10 students are graduating early in 2020 at Countryside highschool. As they quickly transition from high school to college one question remains: is too soon to graduate? There are multiple factors as to why a student might lean towards the option of graduating early. For instance, some decide to graduate early to get a head start in college. When asked his thoughts on students graduating early, Mr. Leo, who teaches dual enrollment composition, said, “I think it is good because all students should have this option to progress based on their efforts and completion of requirements. This way, students won’t stagnate and be motivated to work.”

On the other hand, some colleges do not like for students to graduate early because they are not challenging themselves with upper

level courses. Also, they find they are not as mature and need a lot more growth before taking the next step into going to college. Mrs. Santiago, one of Countryside’s school guidance counselors, was asked for her opinion on rather it was too soon graduate. She responded “for some it is too soon to graduate because they do not have a plan after graduation. If you are more than capable and up for the challenge than you can graduate early”.

There is no right or wrong decision on graduating early, it is in the hands of the student to choose what path is right for them. College itself is a challenge and can be difficult, but if the effort is put forward to achieve one’s goals, anything is possible. Mr. Leo believes “This decision should be based on a case by case due to a lot of variance in maturity levels and readiness of extra demands placed on

students.” As a dual enrollment student, it has been beneficial experiencing being in a college class and highschool at the same time because the environment is more mature and the students have the same goal to achieve in dual enrollment class. While apart of dual enrollment composition, students get a chance to write essays and learn about grammar to become better writers.

Advice from Mrs. Santiago to students either on the path of graduating early or considering is “research what their career choice is and what university or college they would like to attend”. No matter if a student chooses to dual enroll, graduate early or traditionally it is essential to pick a path that best suits the student whether it is getting college credits early or enjoying the most of high school.

College Versus Career Bound

anderCOMPERE

staff writer

Graduating seniors are looking at many choices after they leave the halls of Countryside. Attending a university is a popular choice for seniors, as most careers require at least a Bachelor’s Degree. However, a plethora of seniors will go into a full-time career instead of immediately attending college.

According to Forbes, attending college will help a student make more money in the future than just a high school diploma. Even though college can be expensive, getting a degree will help a student get a higher-paying job in the future. There is also less expensive college options; many students attend the local Saint Petersburg College where students pay half the

price for classes, and can earn Bachelor’s Degrees, Associate Degrees and technical certifications. Getting a college degree, especially today, is very important to ensure success in the future.

Students who only have a high school diploma or G.E.D get paid less than someone with degrees and certifications. If students do not have the help of their families and scholarships, it can be hard to pay for college. Countryside has the College and Career Center to assist students with finding and applying for jobs. Students can also talk to their guidance counselors who can guide them on how to apply to college, and find scholarships.

Trade school is another option available to graduating seniors. Some people prefer it because it can take as little as one to two years

to earn a career based degree. There is a lot of career paths you can follow in trade school. Trade school can be less expensive and give you new opportunities than college. Unlike a typical college classroom, instructors at trade schools have the knowledge of certain equipment that they worked on in the field. Although trade school does not have other collegiate activities, like sports and clubs, it provides students the opportunity to achieve a career. Any type of degree automatically promises you a stable job, whereas only having a high school diploma does not, which makes college degrees more appealing.

No matter what options a student chooses it will not hurt your destination; just choose it wisely.

brookeMICALLEF editor-in-chief

As class request forms are filled out, there are eight elective credits that you must fulfill to graduate high school. If you are interested in leadership, writing, photography, or graphic design, an elective to consider is newspaper. In this class, the basics of journalism are taught such as writing captions, learning to interview peers, taking a proper photo, and so much more! On top of the real-life skills you can indulge in from this class, you can also learn programs such as Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator. If graphic design strikes your interest, there are plentiful opportunities to design anything imaginable in this class.

In newspaper, everyone starts as

a Staff Writer. This position writes two stories per issue that are themed with what the issue is about. The next position is a Category Editor. These editors are assigned one page of the newspaper and one story to write per issue. When working on a page, you are given creative freedom to make graphics that are related to the stories on your page. Next, is Main Editor, typically the main editor is in charge of the middle spread of the newspaper called ‘Focus’. They are also assigned one story to write and to edit everyone else’s stories. The top position is Editor-in-Chief, they are in charge of the whole production of the newspaper. Specifically, they design the front and back pages, instruct the class on how to create design

elements, edit pages, and write stories as they are needed.

The Paw Print Newspaper is a great course to be involved in. The classroom environment is very laid back and students are treated like family rather than classmates. While producing a paper that is given out to the whole student body, almost every day there is something fun going on in our newsroom. The staff agreed that Newspaper class is an awesome course because there are real-life benefits from it. After writing the stories, designing the pages, and making the graphics on the computer for around two months, it is extremely rewarding to see the final result printed and in the hands of classmates.