Journalism ‘09-‘10

                In our wonderful world, everyone is different. We have different shapes, different sizes, and most of all, different talents. At Gulf Shores Middle School (GSMS), the staff and faculty try their best to bring out everyone's special talents. For those who are artistic, there's art and advanced art. For those who are good musicians, there's band and advanced band, but at Gulf Shores, there is also have a class for those who like writing and photography. This class is called Journalism.

                In Journalism, there are many different jobs you can have. There are the photographers, whose job includes taking pictures of people and things around GSMS to go with the stories written by the journalists. After the photographers are finished taking the pictures, they go back to the Journalism classroom, which is Mr. Reetz's room, and there they edit the pictures.

Then there is the job of journalist. They are the ones who write the stories that go into the GSMS newspaper and onto the school website. The journalists are assigned stories about current events at GSMS as well as in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. After the stories are finished being written, they are turned in, edited, and inserted into the GSMS Newspaper by the layout team.

The layout team takes the edited stories and inserts them into the school paper. The layout team also has to resize the stories to fit into the spaces on the paper, and has to find clip art and pictures to go with the stories. The layout team is also in charge of collecting the ‘Dolphins of the Week' and putting it in the weekly paper, as well.

Then there are the editors. The editors' job includes editing the journalists' paper, so they can get a better grade on their paper and that the school paper is better overall. The editors are also there to help any of the journalists with writing their stories.

 Journalism class is loved by most of its students. It's educational, but also an extremely fun experience for all of its students. Sydney Ayers said "Journalism is ‘uber-amazing'. As a photographer, my job in journalism is extremely fun and I've learned a lot during the past year."  This school year, the journalism class has received nine new students, one of them including Savannah Wilkinson, who said, "I've only been in journalism five days, but it already seems really exciting!"

Thanks to Mr. Reetz (7^th grade math and advanced math teacher) and the school board, we are able to have the luxury of having a journalism class and a school paper. Journalism class can give students who never thought they had an interest in writing or taking pictures the tools and they need to have a bright and productive future in the journalism field.

The 2009-2010 journalism class includes Olivia Helms, Harlie Guy, Sydney Ayers, Katie Jones, Sarah Jarrett, and new students Sunny Bill, Ginny Taylor, Savannah Wilkinson, Tasheena Keller, Jessica Metz, Lauren Williams, Lauren Bowden, Danielle Watts and Abby Grimes.

By: Julie Shattuck; 8^th

The awesome 2009-2010 Journalism Staff (from top left) Katie Jones, Olivia Helms, Harlie Guy, Julie Shattuck,
Lauren Bowden, Sydney Ayers, Sunny Bill, Tashena Keller, Sarah Jarett, Jessica Metz, Lauren Williams, Savannah Wilkinson,
Danielle Watts, Abby Grimes, and Ginny