Installment+11

South of Denver

Chapter 11 - December 1, 2004

Just before I left for the Atlanta convention, I asked the staff members of The Rock to let me know what sections they wanted to work on for issue two, and whether they were interested in being a page manager. Issue one was eight pages, and we had a page manager for each page. I assumed that those eight would want to continue, and that other students might want to try a leadership position.

That's not how it turned out. Two sophomores, Hannah and Taylor, opted out of their positions, and I accepted that. In a weird twist, they seem more involved and excited about their story ideas and upcoming interviews than they were last issue, so maybe their decision will be for the best.

No new names emerged. I was mildly disappointed.

And then I got the e-mail from Adrienne's mom. We had talked six weeks ago about how Adrienne could balance her life of all honors courses and poms, etc. and be part of the newspaper. I thought I had reassured her. I was wrong. Monday's e-mail boiled down to Adrienne is spending too much time on journalism - in fact, more time than she is spending on her "core" courses. The e-mail concluded with "Please let someone else on the staff have a turn at managing a page. It's not fair to put so much pressure on the hard-working, dedicated students on the staff. After all, they are just 14."

Have I mentioned that we are very young?

During a quick meeting Monday afternoon, Adrienne's two pages (she was going to edit the profiles section) were picked up by two of our finest, Chelsea and Susie, though I'm not sure those two understand how much more work they will be doing. The good news is that they seem to feel that journalism is at least as important as their "core" classes.

Yesterday I sent out 35 letters of invitation to students who had been recommended to me for Newspaper production class, which begins next semester. Many of them will have irreconcilable scheduling conflicts, preventing them from enrolling in the class. Some will simply toss the letter - after all, they have full schedules right now. A few will hold a ritual burning once they see who is doing the inviting.

But there may be a handful (or two) who find the idea of working on the paper intriguing. I'm going to be bothered by Adrienne bailing on her leadership position - in nearly 30 years of advising I've never had a kid opt out of an editor job; the pressure has always been to become an editor - and I need to remember that what happens in a kid's freshman year may have little to do with what happens down the road. Adrienne will always be welcome as part of our program.

I suppose the perfect staff member combines academic excellence with dedication to informing and entertaining and persuading the community, and also manages to possess whatever sort of "edgy" world view that we all know makes for great writers. But this week reminds me that if I have to drop one of the above attributes from a student's background, it is being an honors student. Dedication and an "edge" count for more than anything else.

In other words, the key ingredient is passion for the work. Give me that and I can do a lot of effective teaching about the skills needed to produce a great publication.

I should feel lucky that out of this raw group of 23 students in an introductory journalism class, we have five kids who combine all three attributes. If I can find and develop five students from each introductory class I teach, that adds up to quite a few great kids.

Issue 2, our first 12-page effort, rolls out in two weeks. Now that all this leadership drama is settled, we're excited to get back to the work.

Jack Kennedy

Rock Canyon High School

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.