Things to complete - a checklist - posted 9/3

1. BIOS

All staffers must complete a BIO by Monday, Sept. 8. 

Please go to the following folder: Online Bios

Make a new doc in there with your name on it. Write your bio.

Write about your experiences so far in newspaper, things you want to work on, things your are involved in here at Bowie, etc.

Examples can be found here, click anyone's name and you can see what they wrote: 24-25 Bios

2. STAFF PHOTOS

Each of you should have your photo taken sometime this week. We need to make press passes. These photos will also go online with your bio. We will also use these photos in the paper if you write an opinion story.

We need those ASAP so please make sure you get one taken today or tomorrow. Anyone who was absent on Wednesday will have to take this photo on Monday.

3. CAMERA CHECK-OUT

I will be bringing small groups back to the locker room today to learn how to check out camera equipment. It is important that you learn to do this correctly and that you use our systems properly. I also need you to return equipment immediately after you complete your assignment even if you don't have me that day. You can bring it in the morning, FIT or even lunch. That would help us a lot.

4. SYSTEMS

We have a number of systems that I will be going through with you in the coming classes. This includes organization in the Drive, how to upload images, create folders for social media, where to put your story docs, as well as art and podcast audio files. We will also be talking about recording interviews and how to get those audio files in the right place. I am trying to get Otter working and I plan to purchase a yearlong professional account that you can all use. This is new, so please give me time to make that happen. Remember you cannot use your devices to record interviews during school, but you can use them away from school. I would like you to put those audio files on the drive.

5. STAFF MANUAL

We will be going over the staff manual in the coming days. That is your go-to for information about how to do things in this class. Always start there and then move to your team to get support. You can always bring your needs/concerns to leadership people as well. Anyone who has been here before should be able to get you to someone who can answer your questions.

You can find the latest staff manual here - it has not been updated since last school year and I will need to take a look to see if there is anything that needs to be changed or updated.

Dispatch Staff Manual

6. FIRST ASSIGNMENTS

You should be getting your first set of assignments this week. We are on a short deadline, and will be for the first 4 issues. You will have to get used to the cycles. You might only have 6-7-8 classes to get your assignments done. In some cases you might be on a team that is doing work daily, but your work will be done on that day, example social media. Page editors should be able to see pages by the end of the week. We will go over the cycle soon, but if you have a story assignment, you need to get started ASAP.

7. DRIVE ACCESS

I am working diligently to get you all access to the common Dispatch Drive. You should have access to Adobe programs at this point. Once you get access, you will be linked to the drive and should use it regularly. Some of you will run into problems with syncing and making sure you are on the correct email to access the Drive. Make sure you get help as needed.

8. 3x5 CARDS

Each of you will need to fill out a 3x5 card with some information for leadership on the card. These are things that are only accessible by myself and leadership and will be used to contact you as needed for information, etc. What you need to put on those 3x5 cards is written on the board today. When you have filled those out, please come and put them in the blue box on my desk in the correct tab. Let's put them behind the tab with the correct letter - make sure you use your LAST NAME for organization.

9. DISPATCH CONTACT SHEET

We also have an electronic version of the 3x5 cards, but with some different data that I sometimes need to access. Please link to the following file and fill it out appropriately sometime during this class period.

Dispatch Staff Contact Sheet 25-26

All 1st year staff members must complete ASAP. Posted 5/19

This class articulates through ACC. That means if you enroll at ACC at any point, you can tell them you took this course, and they will give you college credit for this course.

1. Go here: https://austincc.tfaforms.net/f/HSStarsStudentLinks to an external site.

2. Complete the form - note you only have to fill out everything with a red asterisk *

3. If you are a freshman, your anticipated graduation is 2028. Sophomore: 2027. Junior: 2026

4. At the bottom, match yours to this:

 

New Voices - posted 5/16

As the 2024-2025 school year is wrapping up, New Voices Texas needs your help.

We will host a Zoom meeting on Sunday, May 18 at 8 p.m. for any student who wants to learn more about what it means to serve as an officer and how you can become a leader in the New Voices movement in Texas.

Please use the Zoom info below to join the meeting:

https://us05web.zoom.us/j/89608953380?pwd=MGRFWnc2elJPYk5ESEh1RlYxVGNtdz09

Meeting ID: 896 0895 3380

Passcode: x3bVab

Outgoing student NVT officers and David Doerr, NVT's faculty adviser, will be on the Zoom call to answer questions.

Non-Senior NOT RETURNING to newspaper Final. Posted 5/15/25 - Due by the end of your classes final exam period

 This is the non-senior NOT RETURNING to newspaper final exam for 2024-25

You will write 3 letters today for your final exam. 

Your grade will be based on the amount of care you take writing these reflections. If you give half effort, do not expect a 100. Length and thoughtful writing are two of the criteria. If you give me 1/4 of a page on each letter, do not expect a 100. I am asking you to reflect on your year here in my program. Even if you are not returning, you should have learned something this year that you can take away for future use.

AIt the beginning of next year, I will email your letter 1 to you, or if you are in my class, I will print it out for you. At the end of next year, I will email mail you your Letter 2. Hopefully your email still works.

Please make ONE Google Doc and write the first TWO Letters. When you finish these letters, please share the link with me at the following email address: bowie.journalism@gmail.com. 

DO NOT SEND ME MULTIPLE EMAILS. 

Letter 1 – write a letter to yourself that you will read the first week of school next year. I expect this one to be at least 300-350 words. Don't short change this one. Here are your prompts to reflect/write:

I did a lot of great things last year that should be repeated: (think of at least 4)

Here are some things to remember: (think of at least 4)

What are some of the problems you had in newspaper this year in terms of meeting the expectations of the class?

Are there things that you think would have helped you be more successful in newspaper?

In a simple statement, give me the biggest reason you are not returning and what you could have done to keep that from happening.

Letter 2 – write a letter to yourself that you will read in 10 years. Write at least 350 words here. Here are the prompts for that letter and you can start with this:

This is me 10 years ago. I’m sure I’ve forgotten all about this email by now, and I’ve probably forgotten a lot about who I was in 2025. I’m sitting in my newspaper class final right now and Mr. Reeves is making me write to myself in the future, so hello future me, I hope everything is great in your life right now.

1. Here’s some fun stuff to remember about me in 2024-25:

In 2024-25, I have the following goals for my:

2. Education

3. Family

4. Career

5. Other

6. In case I need some words of encouragement, here’s some things about me now that I like a lot, that I hope you still have:

7. There are also some things about me now that I know I’m still working on that I hope you have figure out by now.

8. At (age) when I write this letter I’ve…..

Love, me on May ??, 2025 (name)

NOW FOR LETTER 3 - PLEASE COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING ON PAPER NOT ON THE COMPUTER. I have lots of materials for you on the table up front like paper, markers, etc.

Letter 3 – write a letter to an important teacher you had this year. You can choose anyone you want that is a member of the Bowie faculty and staff.

Write a greeting, paragraphs, a closing (Sincerely, or Yours, or Thank you) and your signature.  Tell them what they meant to you. Give specific examples and details! One page will suffice. This is not a specific request for you to write me a letter, please pick who you want.

If you need some help, here are some prompts:

“You might not know it, but…”

 “Even though you ________, I want you to know that _________ “

 “I think the most important lesson I learned from you was…”

“The thing I respect most about you is….”

 “One time, when I was _________, you _______ and I……”  

“I have a hard time with _______, and you helped me _______”

“I know you ______, but for my classmates and me, it ________”

 “I appreciate it when you ____________”

“It means a lot to me that you take the time to ____________”

“When I look back on __________,  I realize that you ___________”

When you are done - you can put it into one of the envelopes I have provided and I will make sure they get these in their boxes before school is out. Teachers need this kind of letter. Make it real. Make it mean something.

Non-Senior, RETURNING to newspaper Final. Posted 5/15/25 - DUE be the end of your classes final exam period

  This is the non-senior, RETURNING to newspaper, final exam for 2024-25

You will write 3 letters today for your final exam. 

Your grade will be based on the amount of care you take writing these reflections. If you give half effort, do not expect a 100. Length and thoughtful writing are two of the criteria. If you give me 1/4 of a page on each letter, do not expect a 100. I am asking you to reflect on your year here in my program. Even if you are not returning, you should have learned something this year that you can take away for future use.

At the beginning of next year, I will email your letter 1 to you, or if you are in my class, I will print it out for you. At the end of next year, I will email mail you your Letter 2. Hopefully your email still works.

Please make ONE Google Doc and write the first TWO Letters. When you finish these letters, please share the link with me at the following email address: bowie.journalism@gmail.com. DO NOT SEND ME MULTIPLE EMAILS. 

Letter 1 – write a letter to yourself that you will read the first week of school next year. I expect this one to be at least 300-350 words. Don't short change this one. Here are your prompts to reflect/write:

I did a lot of great things last year that should be repeated: (think of at least 4)

Here are some things to remember: (think of at least 4)

Remind yourself of something that didn’t go so well in newspaper this year and tell yourself how to avoid them in the future. Explain how you worked around the problems.

Letter 2 – write a letter to yourself that you will read in 10 years. Write at least 350 words here. Here are the prompts for that letter and you can start with this:

This is me 10 years ago. I’m sure I’ve forgotten all about this email by now, and I’ve probably forgotten a lot about who I was in 2025. I’m sitting in my newspaper class final right now and Mr. Reeves is making me write to myself in the future, so hello future me, I hope everything is great in your life right now.

1. Here’s some fun stuff to remember about me in 2024-25:

In 2024-25, I have the following goals for my:

2. Education

3. Family

4. Career

5. Other

6. In case I need some words of encouragement, here’s some things about me now that I like a lot, that I hope you still have:

7. There are also some things about me now that I know I’m still working on that I hope you have figure out by now.

8. At (age) when I write this letter I’ve…..

Love, me on May ??, 2025 (name)

NOW FOR LETTER 3 - PLEASE COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING ON PAPER NOT ON THE COMPUTER. I have lots of materials for you on the table up front like paper, markers, etc.

Letter 3 – write a letter to an important teacher you had this year. You can choose anyone you want that is a member of the Bowie faculty and staff.

Write a greeting, paragraphs, a closing (Sincerely, or Yours, or Thank you) and your signature.  Tell them what they meant to you. Give specific examples and details! One page will suffice. This is not a specific request for you to write me a letter, please pick who you want.

If you need some help, here are some prompts:

“You might not know it, but…”

 “Even though you ________, I want you to know that _________ “

 “I think the most important lesson I learned from you was…”

“The thing I respect most about you is….”

 “One time, when I was _________, you _______ and I……”  

“I have a hard time with _______, and you helped me _______”

“I know you ______, but for my classmates and me, it ________”

 “I appreciate it when you ____________”

“It means a lot to me that you take the time to ____________”

“When I look back on __________,  I realize that you ___________”

When you are done - you can put it into one of the envelopes I have provided and I will make sure they get these in their boxes before school is out. Teachers need this kind of letter. Make it real. Make it mean something.

SENIORS FINAL. Due before May 27th at the end of the school day. Posted 5/15

For your final you will write 3 letters and a response to an article you will read. Get this done ASAP. Don't forget to write your senior goodbye for publication.

Please create ONE Google Doc and compete the following tasks:

Letter number 1

Write a letter to yourself that will be read one year from now. Reflect on your current life situation. Have you changed this year? How will you be different in the next year? Have your goals changed for your future. In 2025-26 where do you want to be in life? Write about your goals, where you expect to be next year. Things I would like you to address include: fun stuff to remember from senior year, education, career, other, things about your family and friends, words of encouragement to yourself. You may need a little boost or maybe you need a pat on the back. Then – please write a short reflection about this year in newspaper class. Are there things you could have done differently, that you wanted to change? Are there things that you wish had happed differently? What things did you like about class? What things did you dislike? A few paragraphs will be fine on this section of the letter. I will send these to you at the end of next year, after your first year of college. 

Letter number 2

Write a letter to yourself that will be read 10 years from now. Reflect on high school, especially your senior year. Address the topic of your current goals for yourself. What do you want to be doing, where do you want to live, who do you want to be in contact with still? Write about fun things you remember from this year (while they are fresh in your mind), remind yourself of those moments of importance from senior year, and address those things you would want to tell yourself 10 years from now. Things I would like you to address include: fun stuff to remember from senior year, education, career, other, things about your family and friends, words of encouragement to yourself. You may need a little boost or maybe you need a pat on the back. This needs to be different than the first letter so don't cut and paste. I will also send this to you next year, and then it will be up to you to keep it for a few years!! :)

Letter number 3

Write a letter to a teacher that meant something to you during your high school career. Thank them and tell them why they were important to you. Maybe you could write about your first encounter with them, or maybe an important moment that they were a part of. Try to write as close to a full page as you can. Teachers need these kinds of things. I would prefer that you do this by hand, I have lots of paper, markers, etc for you to use on the table. Please pick anyone you want to thank, this is not a specific request to write me a letter, unless that is something you want to do.

Reflective response:

Please read the following article and respond to the questions and share that with me as well:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-m-parsons/message-to-my-freshman-st_b_7275016.html

Reflect on the article:

What information could you use next year?

What changes can you expect to encounter next year, based on what you read?

What skills will you need to work on to be a successful post-secondary student?

What are you most nervous about as you think about college next year?

What are you excited about when it comes to college?

If you could send Dr. Parsons a one paragraph response to this article, what would your write?

Summer virtual academy - posted 4/23

 Hello Dispatch team,

My name is Ranvith Adulla, and I am a board member at The Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn's student-run newspaper.

We are hosting the Summer Press Academy, a 3-day virtual summer camp for high school students interested in journalism and media. Participants get to learn real reporting skills through hands-on workshops and guest lectures featuring journalists from CNN, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and POLITICO. At the end of the camp, students will also be given the opportunity to publish a piece through The Daily Pennsylvanian! You can learn more about the program here: https://dppressacademy.com/.

We think this is a great opportunity for your students at the Dispatch, and we'd love for you to share this information with anyone who might be interested. Please also let me know if you have any questions about our program!

Thank you,
Ranvith Adulla
The Daily Pennsylvanian

Opportunities for YOU! Posted 4/22/25

 The Chicago-based hip hop magazine FlyPaper is coming back to life and the editors are looking for contributions from young people. Articles can be a mix of 1st person and reported (think Village Voice-style) and the writer should lean in on their personal tone and style. Topics: "The focus has a crazy wide latitude – anything that is interesting for this demographic to write about (age 15-25) that is at least a little Hip Hop Adjacent." Photos will be required.

More on Flypaper: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EZy4gvKsDwLl383A3SgJBxReGTsJ0SsX?usp=sharing

Who are the founders: BboyB and Montana Butsch

Other articles that are being worked on for the first issue: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19HNJjzVD_P38F9yt13MPk2IPVieZ6Uqjs0hIFzTTzfs/edit?gid=2123017644#gid=2123017644  

audience: 15-25yo target audience.  Up to 30.  Global.  

First draft due: May 15

Where to send pitches and questions: montanabutsch@gmail.com

Paid: Not yet, but maybe in the future

See Reeves for more information if interested.

ALSO

Poynter is looking for examples of student journalists breaking news, showing history as it happens, covering local government and filling the local news gap.

See more here:

https://mailchi.mp/poynter/cx9kghijsw-5284528?e=ea8ce789e9

She may only be talking about college media but I'm sure Poynter would be happy to see examples from high school media filling the same role.

Send examples to Kristen Hare, khare@poynter.org

Issue #6 Editors - Congrats!!

 2024-25 Issue #6 page editors

Page 1 – Peyton

Page 2 - Marissa

Page 3 - Katie

Page 4 - Charlotte

Page 5 - Savannah

Page 6 – Isadora

Page 7 - Liberty

Page 8-9 - Elizabeth

Page 10 - Caroline

Page 11 – Sydney M

Page 12 – Alice and Gracie

Page 13 – Ava W

Page 14 - Sam

Page 15 - Capri

Page 16 – Seniors

Senior editors - Cords!! Junior Editors - Quill and Scroll membership

 

NSPA Leadership Cords available

Students receiving the NSPA Leadership Award in Student Journalism are eligible to wear the NSPA Leadership Cord at commencement. Cords are available for $12 each from the NSPA Store. Please allow at least two weeks for ground delivery. NSPA highly recommends that cords be ordered by April 30.   Also: Quill and Scroll https://quillandscroll.org/student-memberships/ https://form.jotform.com/222135567471052 $25 membership $12 cord If you want to do this - you have to be a junior or senior, you have to be an editor, you have to have a 3.0 GPA. Juniors, do not order the cord at this time, but you can do the membership. Seniors Audrey Cullinane Vivi Lopez-Stern Arden Ray Bentlee Toland Isabella Verette Michael Vienneau Juniors Liberty Pittman Elizabeth Yowell Gabby Bochey Will Olenick Peyton Dorsey Katie Grumet Savannah Riggins Charlotte Schwarte Eleanor Blue Marissa McGowan Sam Bode Ryan Zuniga Sophia Sepulveda

Bunch of things posted 3/25 - please read

UIL

UIL people please click here to get training materials for your competition:

https://www.uiltexas.org/journalism/uil-contests

Scroll down to the bottom and find your category for overviews and prompts you can practice with. 

Here are the times for each event:

10:30 am - Copy Editing room 350

Charlotte, Liberty and Elizabeth

11:00 am - News Writing room 350

Liberty, Peyton and Savannah (Charlotte back up)

12:00 noon - Feature Writing room 350

Charlotte, Elizabeth and Liberty (Savannah back-up)

1:30 pm - Editorial Writing room 350

Elizabeth, Sam B, Vivi (Liberty back-up)

2:30 pm - Headline Writing room 350

Elizabeth, Charlotte, Sam (Vivi back-up)

Please arrive at least 15 minutes early - coordinate with the other staff members there to decide who is going to do what contest. Do your best and I thank you for getting there and working hard on this. If a back-up has to step in - please notify the coordinator ASAP before you go into the room.

New Voices 

Big thank you to Charlotte, Elizabeth and OOOPPPPPS AVA WEAVER for giving up time during break to go to the capitol to talk about New Voices with your state legislators. We left feeling very upbeat about the process. There could be another day for Bowie students to go lobby for scholastic journalism rights in Texas. I will keep you updated!

Want more information, check this link: https://newvoicestx.com

CSPA AWARDS

If you wanted to watch the CSPA Crown awards, here is a link:

 https://vimeo.com/columbiascholasticpress

In addition, our work was featured in a presentation by a speaker at the event. You can watch that here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tOyC8dC77I1E60oSqIIEgoV4op3VEqOn/view?usp=sharing

 

New Voices day at the state Capitol - posted 3/13/25

Join us at the Capitol in Austin on Monday, March 17, to fight for a New Voices bill in Texas!

We expect a New Voices bill to be filed by the end of the week and now it’s time for us to demand that lawmakers pass it this year. Please fill out this Google Form as soon as possible so we know how many to expect so we can purchase donuts and lunch for our participants.

We are scheduling appointments to allow supporters to speak directly with lawmakers and their staffers, especially those on the Texas Public Education Committee. And now we’d like to share the details of when to be there, where to park and what to expect when you get to the Capitol.

We recommend getting into downtown Austin by 8:30 a.m. at the latest because of traffic and limited parking at the Capitol’s parking garage. We highly suggest that you park at the Capitol’s official Visitors Parking garage between San Jacinto Blvd. and Trinity St. It’s much cheaper than other garages and lots nearby. However, if that garage is full, here’s a website that you can use to look up other lots and garages nearby.

We ask that participants find us by 9 a.m. at our meetup spot in front of the African American Monument near the southern edge of the Capitol complex. See our website for more details about the plan for the day's schedule. After meetings with various lawmakers, we plan to finish our meetings by 2 p.m. and end the day with a debriefing by 3 p.m.

I will be there for the morning activities and will stay till lunch, and then I have to go. I would love to see some of you there if you are in town. Just show up and meet me at 9 am at the African American Monument. We will have flyers and handouts to share with you so you know what to do and I am happy to walk with anyone from Bowie to meet with legislators. 

Urgent - call for New Voices legislation - posted 3/7

From Mr. Doerr at Akins High School - the faculty sponsor for New Voices here in Texas. We need your help:

Hi all. This is an URGENT request.

I need you all to call Rep. Hinojosa’s office on Friday to ask her to be our bill sponsor. We need the bill filed before we can think about having a lobby day. Zwiener will be the bill sponsor but they need to know early next week if Hinojosa is out or not as the sponsor so Zwiener knows if she should file the bill for us. We need to know our bill status before the Zoom webinar on Tuesday so we can plan details of Lobby Day on March 17.

Hinojosa’s office number is (512) 463-0668

Simply introduce yourself as a student journalist and officer/leader with New Voices Texas, and express your appreciation for Hinojosa considering becoming our bill sponsor. You can also let them know that we are planning a lobby day on March 17 so we are looking forward to her office filing the bill so that we can promote it to other education committee members when we are at the Capitol.

We can do this in class on Monday and Tuesday. I will remind you then, but if you want to call today, you can. This is totally optional and only if you feel compelled to support New Voices legislation in Texas.