JOURNALISM I/ NEWSPAPER Advisor: Heather Wickham

2017-2018 / 4th Block E-mail: Heather.Wickham@cobbk12.org

Phone: 770-578-3266 ext. 203
Website: http://www.WHSTheCatalyst.com

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Journalism will produce The Catalyst, the student newspaper for Wheeler High School. Journalism students will
report on school and community events and learn to write news and sports stories, as well as opinion pieces.
During the year, the students will study journalistic writing techniques, digital photography, elements of design
using InDesign, editing digital images in Photoshop, and web design. Opportunities for leadership positions will be
available to serve as section editors for the paper.

GRADE DISTRIBUTION

Articles/Deadlines 50% Fundraising 20%

Requirements (Print/Online)Brainstorming, See below.
Outline, Rough Draft, & Final Draft
Intro Notes/Journalism Project 10%
Technology Tools 20% More information to come.
Weekly assignments for online tools.

REQUIREMENTS

*Attendance is very important, as this class is reliant upon deadlines and often last-minute occurrences. Please
plan on attending class each day for the entire period.

*Issues of The Catalyst will be published roughly 4 times per semester. For each publication, each student will be
responsible for 4 distinct deadlines. These deadlines are time-sensitive and will be graded as such. Deadlines will
be clearly defined for each issue.

*Our paper is both student-run and student-published. Therefore, in addition to writing and creating pages for the
paper, each student will be expected to contribute their efforts toward fundraising. Each students goal for the
semester is set at $100. Our class raises funds via selling subscriptions ($10/semester) to The Catalyst as well as
selling ad space to local businesses. The school does allow students in this class to leave school campus during 4th
block in order to fulfill this requirement. However, this requirement can be fulfilled without having to leave
campus during the day (i.e. over phone, via email, or outside school hours). Please indicate below your expectation
in this regard.

_____My child IS ALLOWED to leave campus and ride in cars with classmates during 4th block in order to fulfill the
fundraising requirement for Journalism.

_____My child IS NOT ALLOWED to leave campus during class and will fulfill the fundraising requirement for
Journalism via phone calls, emails, or outside school hours.

Thank you for your support of this classit is a great opportunity for students to explore the various aspects of
journalistic writing, research, graphic design, and fundraising responsibility.

Student Name ________________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Name ________________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Signature ________________________________________________________