Installment+8

South of Denver

Chapter 8 - October 18, 2004

We had our first "five minute slice of life" coverage of Rock Canyon HS on Wednesday, from 2 to 2:05 p.m., but it wasn't without incident.

The concept was to shake up traditional academic news coverage by simply sending reporters to every corner of the building and having them observe what was going on for a period of time, paying special attention to what students and teachers were saying and doing. We had practiced the whole thing back in August, but now the coverage would end up on page 2 of our first newspaper.

We chose to do this first "5-minute coverage" during Journalism class, and everyone seemed ready to go. Adrienne, the page manager, had a list of where everyone would be going at 1:55. Staff members all had their reporter's notebooks and staff IDs. But they didn't have cameras.

"What am I not understanding here?" I asked, somewhat sarcastically. "Yesterday when Adrienne asked how many of you were bringing digital cameras, there were at least ten of you who raised your hands. But only Natasha actually brought one?"

We only have one staff camera, a darn fine one (Nikon D70), but even the best camera can only be used one place at a time.

"Dropping the ball on this assignment is not a good sign for us," I said. There comes a time nearly every publication cycle when a certain amount of drama and urgency needs to be created by the adviser (or editor, if you have one). This was that time for me. "Let's get this straight: if you say you will take on a certain assignment, you must come through. You have to rise above the common expectations for freshman and sophomores in high school. We have four class meetings after fall break before issue one, and no margin for error!"

The basic reaction from the class was "Gulp." And silence, of course.

"Here's the question: are you going to do your absolute best, or are you going to settle? Do you want to have a newspaper that is 'pretty good for high school freshmen and sophomores,' or do you want a 'good newspaper'? What do you really want? You must get it through your heads that this class is not like your other classes. If you drop the ball in other classes, it's just your mark that suffers. Here, the whole staff will suffer, and all our readers! My expectations are that you will perform as journalists. High school is where we are, not what we do."

A bit hyperbolic? Sure. Effective? Who knows?

But the material the students brought back at 2:10 was pretty interesting, with rich quotes and detail. Adrienne cleverly worked out a plan to get to at least four classrooms in the five minutes with the Nikon, and Natasha shot two other locations, so we ended up with some visuals that can work.

By the end of the day Wednesday, Adrienne had given out assignments to the entire staff to come up with three Top 5 lists for the page, and three questions to ask the principal (who is coming in for a press conference on Oct. 27). Those are part of a "5 questions for _____" that will appear on the five minutes page each issue.

It was interesting how Adrienne stayed focused on problem solving and planning, while I provided the rah-rah. We didn't plan it, of course, but the combination seemed to work today.

But how many times can I get away with the Knute Rockne speeches with this group?

p.s. This week is fall break for Douglas County Schools, so, dear reader, the next chapter will not appear until Nov. 1. That is the day issue 1 goes to press.

Jack Kennedy

Rock Canyon HS

Highlands Ranch CO 80124

jkkennedy@comcast.net

jack.kennedy@dcsdk12.org

Note: This is part of a series of columns on working with a completely untrained staff. It is cryptotherapy for me. It may occasionally provide something positive for you. It's all uncharted territory, that's for sure.