Pioneering
pi·o·neer
/ˌpīəˈnir/
verb
gerund or present participle: pioneering
-
develop or be the first to use or apply (a new method, area of knowledge, or activity).
"she has pioneered a number of innovative techniques"
Photo By Kristin Ott
Rebuilding and Creation
Rebuilding
Wahawk Yearbook
The yearbook program was barely holding on when I joined the staff. Alongside Mariah Slater, another passionate sophomore, and Nicole Goodman, our advisor, we were able to bring an award winning program back to life.
What started as a nine student program with zero awards, has turned into a 15 student program bringing home over a dozen awards.
Video By: Nicole Goodman
Photo By: Nicole Goodman
Was it easy? Did I wake up one morning and suddenly know all of the answers? No, unfortunately it took years to get to where we are and we are still moving and growing each day. There is always a new question that I do not have the answer to.
So how did I do it? I guess I don't have the answer to that either, but I can tell you what helped.
1- OTHER PEOPLE: You do NOT have to do anything or everything alone, you always have people who can help you, even if you think you're alone. Mariah Slater, Nicole Goodman and other staff members played just as big of a part in this as I did.
2- RESOURCES: There are books, websites, YouTube videos and endless amounts of people who know more than we do. Attending conferences such as the IHSPA conference exposed me to people who knew what they were doing. These people were some of my biggest help when it came to team atmosphere and how to run a program.
3- SLEEP AND HOBBIES: If you try to spend every waking moment focusing on something, you will grow to hate it. You will get tired of it. It is so important to have balance in your life. I have cheer, work or other activities to fall back on when I get frustrated with my work. Oftentimes, it can also help to have time away to get your thoughts moving again.
4- DETERMINATION: It will not happen overnight. You will not wake up with a perfect program. It takes so much time, patience and determination to rebuild a program, especially as a high school student. While the work is hard, the end result is more than rewarding.
Creation
Wahawk Insider
West High's newspaper, The Spectator, came to an end in 2015. West High operated for over seven years with no student news source. As a determined (and stubborn) sophomore, I decided that if I can help rebuild a yearbook program, how hard would it be to build an entire newspaper program? In just a year of being an active publication, Wahawk Insider earned numerous awards and was named All-Iowa News Team of the Year, so all of the work paid off quickly.
Photo By: Nicole Goodman
One of the most frequent questions I get asked is how this was possible. How did it go from a dream to reality? Again, I really wish I knew the complete answer, but I still didn't do this alone.
1- HAVE A DREAM: At first, we just threw the idea out there and brought it up in a quick discussion. But then, it started coming up more and more. I daydreamed about being one of the schools with a News Team of the Year banner. I dreamt of writing articles and having another class like yearbook.
2- HAVE THE BEST ADVISOR EVER: It wasn't just my dream, and it certainly wasn't just my doing. My amazing and dedicated Advisor took the lead with planning the class and getting everything in order. Without Ms. Goodman, we wouldn't have even been approved to create the class, let alone get this far.
3- FIND PEOPLE LIKE YOU: The hardest part in getting the class rolling was to find 20 people to sign up. Even if they could not get the class on their schedule, we needed the interest of 20 students to get the program on the master schedule for the next year. This is where we sent out countless emails and reached out to students who we thought would be a good addition to the program.
4- BREATHE, LET IT WORK: Getting started was the hard part. Once we got the program going, we were able to sit back and watch everything fall into place. Students took on their specialties and we were all able to find what we enjoyed the most.
5- APPLY FOR AWARDS: Turns out, the awards do not come looking for you, you have to go looking for them. After talking with the entire staff, we were able to compile a list of articles and pictures that we could submit for awards. Once we did that, everything changed for us, and we saw the ability we had to be something great. If two years ago you would have said that I would be recognized as the best journalist in the state, there is no way that I would have believed you.
Hardships
I would love to say that every aspect of creating and rebuilding these two amazing programs was smooth sailing, but that would be a lie, and I wanted to be completely transparent. Throughout the past three years, there have been a lot of sleepless nights, frustrated classes, tears and times where I struggled to believe that everything would pay off. However, almost every day I find a new reason to prove to myself that everything has been worth it.
Photo By Nicole Goodman
To see Tyler Hall get his Best of SNO award, the first award that Wahawk Insider received in January of 2023.
Photo By Talan Nelson
To get court access at all athletic events, including on the court at the girls state basketball tournament in February of 2023.
Photo By Jayna Gomez
To hold the News Team of the Year banner at the Iowa High School Press Association Conference in October of 2023.
Photo By Lucy Prescott
To see that my Brewing Success article was accepted as Best of SNO in February of 2024.
Growth
Journalism is vulnerable, pure and permanent, three words that can be both beautiful and scary. As I have grown, my skills have too. While it is beautiful to realize how much I have changed, it is scary to realize that my first articles, first pictures and first yearbook spreads are out there for anyone to see
Photography
The yearbook program started out with two cameras and nine working desktops. This meant we were working with very limited equipment for photography, and virtually nothing for editing. Two years later, I have my own camera, multiple lenses and multiple editing softwares. Overtime, I have not only grown as a photographer and editor, but I have grown out of my comfort zone and explored other events to photograph. From mostly basketball and track to covering nearly every event at West High.
SOPHOMORE YEAR
JUNIOR YEAR
SENIOR YEAR
Articles
There is one specific article that we always bring up to compare to my more recent pieces. While it is sometimes embarrassing to think about, it always makes me smile to know how far I have come in my writing.
THEN
The Wahawks Of West
Date Posted: Sept. 8, 2022
Word Count: 189
Awards: None
Personal Rating: ⭐️
Reasoning: The article is shorter than what is expected of us currently, and I wish I had formatted the quotes in a way where they flowed more smoothly.
NOW
Brewing Success
Date Posted: Jan. 30, 2024
Word Count: 1,626
Awards: Best Of SNO
Personal Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Reasoning: This article took extensive work to compile interviews, information, pictures and the overall story. I am proud of the way each interview fit perfectly together and told Bailey's story in a way that she was happy with.
Closing Thoughts
Journalism has opened doors for me that I otherwise would have thought were walls holding me in. In everything that I have lost, I have not lost my talent, my passion, my dedication or my desire to write and photograph. My time in room 309 has seen some of my hardest days but has been the root of nearly every accomplishment on the way. Here I have found a family, a future and most importantly, a home. No matter where my future takes me, I will always have the memories I have made as a student journalist, and I cannot wait to see what comes next.
Thank you.