JOURNALISM
The Quill is Back!
By Annabelle Mick
___________________________
In an era of constant turmoil in the political sphere, from the impeachment of a president to foreign interference in our elections, the work of journalists is as crucial as it has ever been. “Journalists write the first draft of history,” stated Jessica McCallum, AHS journalism teacher, and advisor of the Animas Quill. “There’s never been a more important time to be studying journalism in a democratic society. It prepares young people to critically read their world and express the issues important to them. As we all watch the media landscape transform, focusing on the pursuit of truth and clear communication is of paramount importance.”
The Quill originally started in the Spring of 2011 and was published monthly for five years until the Spring of 2016. That next school year, Jessica turned her attention from teaching journalism to Spanish part-time, at which time the Quill went on hiatus. When asked what inspired her to revive the Quill, she said, “Quite simply, I wanted to bring it back because it was missing. At a project-based high school rooted in adult world connections and engaged learning, the lack of a student media organization left a hole in our programming.”
Thanks to the benevolent collaboration of Missy Votel and the Durango Telegraph, the Quill will be featured as a periodic insert in everyone’s favorite local indie paper. When we asked Votel why she agreed to collaborate with the Quill, she said “I think it’s important to give budding young writers a taste of the exciting world of journalism! Even though the means of delivering news is changing, newsgathering, uncovering the truth and telling the oft-neglected side of the story are more important now than ever. And who better to give a voice to than teens, who will (hopefully) grow up to be the vanguards of the so-called Fifth Estate.”
The student news organization has rebranded itself Quill Media in an effort to branch out to various platforms. The reboot of the Quill will not be simply focused on print journalism because as Jessica explained, “the media landscape in the world has changed, and so must we.” In addition to the insert in the Telegraph, Quill Media will deliver multimedia content via social media platforms and its website: animasquill.org.
Additionally, Quill Media has absorbed the broadcast news program formerly known as the Friday Show. Senior Robbie Patla is leading the effort to integrate more video journalism into the fold. Patla, who is also an intern at Durango TV, said, “It’s very important to convey information through visual storytelling, and in this day in age video journalism has the power to inspire others and create change.”
Despite the diversification of media, print journalism will still be a focus of Quill Media. Beyond the newspaper, the Quill’s editors are looking at more creative ways to get student voice out to the general public through small paper magazine features called “zines.”
Just as national journalists are taking advantage of writing an important part of our country’s history, so will the “Quillspreys,” as Jessica affectionately calls them, a play on the AHS mascot, the osprey. “The Quillspreys are contributing to the documentation of our school’s history and evolution: this is the real work of journalism,” Jessica reflected.
Keep an eye out in the Durango Telegraph and check animasquill.org regularly for new stories about our school, our community, our nation, and our world. You can also follow Quill Media on Twitter (@animasquill), Instagram (@animasquillmedia), and Snapchat (animas_quill).
There Is Nothing Better Than Christmas
By Annabelle Mick
_______________________
There is nothing better than the holidays. It’s the season of giving and receiving. And no, I am not talking about material gifts, I am talking about the most powerful four-letter gift of all. Love.
I love Christmas. All of the pretty lights in a rainbow of colors, bright jewel tones and metallics decorating the walls of homes and buildings in every town. The cheerful smiles of children peering through shop windows, fogging over the cold glass with their innocent breaths as they admire all the toys. The magical thought of those same children going home to write their letter to Santa Claus and putting it in a stocking for him to collect. The beautiful harmonic sounds of carolers going door to door singing classic Christmas songs. Parents frantically shopping for presents for their kids, not because it’s a “norm”, but because they love them. Families out sledding, building snowmen and having snowball fights. But the best part of all is the time from the night of Christmas Eve until the end of Christmas Day. Watching the Norad Santa Tracker all day, and families wearing their new pj’s watching a Christmas movie together, only to have the children fall asleep and be carried to bed. Santa coming while they rest their heads, with presents and goodies for all the good little boys and girls. The best part comes when the children wake up and rush over to the lit-up tree surrounded by presents, then run to their parent’s room to wake them up with joy. The enchantment being shared out as presents are opened and Christmas dinner is shared is the most magical part of the year. The joy and excitement from opening presents and eating a tasty feast is not out of greed, it’s out of love and happiness from being with people you care for. The love being radiated by the feeling of giving someone you hold close a box wrapped in glitter paper and a bow and the feeling of being gifted something you wanted or needed by someone dear to you.
Everything about these many wonderful things is all done out of love. Children love Christmas. They love the thought of a man with magic coming to their house while they sleep with gifts just for being good all year. They love having family in town for the holidays. They love being away from the immense amount of stress from public school for 2 weeks. They love all the colors, lights, and fun decorations. They love looking up at a glowing tree and admiring all the presents beneath it, wondering what could be inside. Christmas gives people joy easily shared without trying, just by wearing a smile and children being excited over the fact that they get to be a kid for at least 2 weeks, stress-free from having to do work in a classroom and doing homework when they should be playing, and instead they can do nothing but have fun with people they love.
We should all cherish the holiday season. Even if you don’t enjoy the festivities and traditions, enjoy the love.
Semester Reflection
- This year, I believe I contributed quite a bit to The Quill. Aside from spending a lot of my time on yearbook work, I also spent a handful of time crafting the cover story "The Quill Is Back" for the first issue we put out in a local newspaper, The Durango Telegraph. My contribution for the month of December was my opinion piece on why we should love Christmas.
I managed to finish the story just in time for the semester to end, and everyone who read it loved it.
- I have learned a lot more about the world of journalism. I didn't quite know how much goes into each story that gets published for the world to see. Although nothing we did compare to journalists that work for companies like The New York Times, I still got to learn about what all it takes for larger reporters to cover a story, big or small.
- I will not be returning next semester due to personal reasons outside of school, but I will definitely be using what I learned for the yearbook when writing copy for each page since it has a lot of the same characteristics as writing an article, just a lot smaller and less public.
Self Assessment
- For this class, I feel at least an A- would fit. I met the story deadlines, and I was always busy if I could be (ie: if I wasn't sick) working on yearbook and my stories, and also helping my fellow yearbook girls with their work. I collaborated not only with the yearbook team, I also did my opinion piece as a collab with another classmate on why he hates Christmas and made sure he stayed on track to make the deadlines. I never had the opportunity to mentor an underclassman, but if they ever did need my help, I would have helped them. I folllowed the code and contract by working on my projects the best I knew how and making sure my stories followed the formatting process. The only problem I had was sometimes when I arrived in the morning, I would be too sick to function. Instead of throwing my story to the side, I pulled through and worked extra hard to make sure it got done by the deadline.