By Armita Rohani
East Side News, East high school’s official newspaper run by the newspaper club, meets every Wednesday in room 116. We publish issues like this one biweekly, and if you’re lucky, weekly, featuring works of writers, artists, and photographers from all over East’s halls.
What happens during meetings?
When you enter the fancy computer lab of 116, we usually start most of our meetings by playing a news-themed Kahoot. Sometimes they’re based on major headlines from the week, spotting the fake headline, or some surprising announcements from top companies around the world. The top five winners claim a timbit, as well as the good ol’ bragging rights. After our game, any and all announcements, from coffeehouse to Taste of East, will be presented to members. These are a great way to get involved in the club and volunteer, or to come and have fun with friends. We then move on to our issue pitch, where people present article ideas and sign up for them, as well as work on their articles. Our meetings usually last anywhere from 3:15-3:30.
What are the benefits?
During my freshman orientation four years ago, one of the assistant principals told our class that “you can either be a do-er or a watcher here at East.” You can either get involved, make an impact and be remembered as an alum, or be a bystander and watch the people who make the impacts. At newspaper club, everyone has the chance to make a difference. Whether that is by signing up for articles, taking shifts at coffeehouses, or just showing up at meetings, there are so many opportunities to get involved. Best part, you have control over what you want to do, what articles you want to write, and how often you want to write them.
Building your Resume…
At the end of the year, officer interviews will take place, and give you a shot at receiving a position. This year, almost every major position will be open as our seniors graduate. Roles like Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Comanaging (there’s three of them), and a plethora of section editors (most notably, the East news section). Not only does this give you a spike for your college resume, but it gives you a chance to show that you are a good candidate for the college community.
What can I write about?
Anything! For the East News section, you can write about anything that’s happening at East, like sports, clubs, teacher interviews, student interviews, and events. This is a great way to promote your club, or talk to your favorite teacher. For the world section, you can write about any news from the national and international sector. This can include business news, governments, and the election. For the entertainment section, you can talk about concerts, activities to do, and lots of reviews for books, movies, albums, and t.v. shows. The science and technology section is amazing for anyone who’s interested in going into STEM. You can write about research, animals, new vaccines, diseases…all the works. The commentary section is the best way to give an opinion on something, or defer from unbiased hard news. Our commentary section is where the most impact happens, more on that later. The sports section is the perfect place to write about our Buffalo Bills, or any other sports team or sport superstar.
I don’t want to write, what can I do?
We publish artworks on the backpage, and everyone is welcome to submit (all will be published). We also have a comics section, where you can draw a quick skit, and a photography section, where you can take photos of whatever you’d like or be assigned to an article. We also have a YouTube channel, where you can vlog about your life, an interview with a teacher or a friend, or record an event!
What has ESN done?
You may recall our impactful commentaries from a previous section. For example, Newspaper club is the only reason why we have sidewalks that extend to our school, because one of our students wrote about it, and their writing was presented to the board and town hall. We have also changed plays, and have promoted various organizations and ideals. We also host coffeehouse, in partnership with the stage crew. Coffeehouse is an open mic event where people can perform any acts they wish, either solo or in a group of friends. Newspaper club will provide food (and let me tell you, they are really good) based on a theme, ranging from $0.50-$5. In the past we have done Asian Fusion Night, Brinner (breakfast dinner), and Italian night! There are three coffee houses each year, with the first one coming up in November!