The cougar star
The Cougar Star, a local middle school’s newspaper, is a melting pot of my two favorite things: service and journalism. As an adviser for this newspaper, I meet with 60+ members weekly, lead brainstorm sessions, facilitate editing marathons, and organize website posting and design. Beyond our weekly meetings, I spend the week reviewing dozens of articles sent to me and leave thorough edits and feedback. During my first year on The Cougar Star when the website had just started, I worked closely with the website editors to lead them in designing the website and teaching them how to create a posting schedule. That year and the year later, The Cougar Star received a Spartan Award, the highest recognition at the state-level for a publication. Additionally, this fall, The Cougar Star received first place in the nation for the Best of Show contest. It’s hard for me to say I have favorites, but my time with The Cougar Star has been a real pleasure and truly rewarding. There’s no greater feeling than passing down one of your greatest passions and supporting others to love it as much as you do.
Engaging the group
Fun is never overrated at The Cougar Star. When it comes to engaging our mini journalists, it comes down to relatability and trust. When it came to brainstorming (pictured right), I had them all get situated and cozy in the couch area, and then I started finding out what they were passionate about. From there, we had ideas.
holding their hand and letting go
That's a technique I learned was very effective when mentoring the middle schoolers. I would help them create the posting calendar, create social media templates, and learn AP Style rules, but gradually, it's about letting go and having them take creative freedom. I like to be transparent about the entire process of spreadsheet making and responsibilities I as an adviser would usually carry out so that they can learn from what I do. Then, once a foundation is set, I encourage them to take the reigns and explore what they want this publication to turn into. I'm here for support.
This is a calendar I created with the social media team to facilitate communication and posting amongst the team.
When I noticed difficulty in communication in getting articles edited, I created a community document so that all articles that needed to be revised were in one spot.
