For students at Chamblee, the time of year where you choose your classes for the following year can be both exciting and stressful. You must decide what electives you want to be in, what classes your friends are taking, how many Advanced Placement classes to take (if you are taking any), and even if there are specific teachers you want to try to have or not have. However, one often overlooked class that many people don’t even know about is Journalism. Comprised of the school newspaper (The Blue & Gold) and the yearbook (The Chamhian) in two seperate classes, I believe that Journalism is a class that you should look into.

I applied to the school newspaper my freshman year, hoping to be accepted and take it as an elective my following sophomore year. At the time, I had read the newspaper’s website before, been interviewed a few times by newspaper staff, and also had a friend whose sister was one of the editors. Journalism was something that really interested me, and I ended up being accepted as the only sophomore in the class. Reflecting on being in Journalism for a semester, filling out an application was definitely a choice I am glad that I made. It’s been one of my enjoyable classes so far this school year.

If you’re not exactly sure what the school newspaper is about, the main element of the class is writing articles about what’s going on around the school, what students are achieving, and other things that impact students such as DeKalb County School District as a whole. Writing monthly op-eds and having a news quiz over a different news source each week are also part of the class.  At the beginning of each class period, the class has a “scuttlebutt” discussion, where we talk (mostly) about what’s going on around the school and news article ideas.

One great thing that I like about the class is that you have some freedom in choosing what to write about for your next article. If you enjoy writing about sports, you can write more sports features. Or, if you enjoy writing about the politics of the DeKalb County School District, you can write more news articles about that.

Another interesting thing that I enjoy about the class is interviewing people from all around the school about their different experiences. The majority of articles we publish are primarily interview-based, so you will spend some of your time running around the school trying to track down the teacher or a student you need to interview 

The hierarchy of The Blue & Gold involves the editor-in-chief and three other editors who each have a “pod” of two to three students. They edit the articles that their pod members write, which may then be published on the The Blue & Gold website if they meet journalistic standards. The faculty advisor for the class is Mr. Avett, another reason that the class is so great.

On the other hand, if you are less interested in writing about the news around CCHS, you may find yearbook interesting. Taught by Ms. Branca, the class is split up into editors and writers who work together throughout the year to create the “Chamhian.” Designing the yearbook, taking many pictures, interviewing students, and utilizing your artistic talent all take place in this class.

If you want to learn more about Journalism, I recommend checking out the English Electives section of the 2019-2020 Crowd-Sourced Course Catalog. Written by the The Blue & Gold staff ourselves, the catalog features interviews with students in the majority of our school’s classes.

If you are now interested in filling out an application for the school newspaper, applications are available in Mr. Avett’s room (3126). If you want more information about the yearbook class, go see Ms. Branca in her room (3107). Applications for the school newspaper are due February 13th.