Choice Sheets

Choice Sheets
Soon all of you will be asked to start making choices for your schedule for 2017-2018. 

For the rest of you I want you to be armed with the best information possible about what it means to be in the print journalism department.

You have three options next year: You can take Advance Graphic Design and Illustration for Newspaper, Commercial Photography, or you can take Advance Graphic Design and Illustration for Yearbook. All three require you to fill out an application form. For yearbook you will also have to meet directly with Ms. Shirack for an interview. For the others, you are actually doing your interview now as you sit in my class.

The cycle looks like this:

year #1 - Photojournalism/Principals of AV Tech (the class you are currently taking)

year #2 - Graphic Design and Illustration for Newspaper, (or yearbook), OR Commercial Photography

year #3 - Journalism Independent Study (both newspaper and yearbook) OR Advance Commercial Photography 

year #4 - Advance Graphic Design and Illustration for Newspaper, (or yearbook), or Practicum in Photography

Here is a simple description and a rough explanation of the options you have in each class:

Newspaper:

      Publishes the The Dispatch newspaper once every six weeks. Typically the paper is 16 pages long, there are about 50 stories written for each newspaper and about 20 photographs published. Every newspaper student is expected to write at least one story per issue and some people write three or more. Photographers are expected to write, but if they shoot multiple photography assignments the writing can be limited.

     There are multiple editors on staff and they are selected by current editors at the end of the school year. There are generally editor openings for students who enter the class at the beginning of the year. Layout and design is handled by editors, but there are assistant editor positions available for each section. They help with the creation of the pages.

     The Dispatch newspaper is "The Voice" of Bowie High School. Students in the class get to decide the coverage each issue and there are multiple opportunities for individual expression on issues that impact students at our school. Its the only place where students can share their opinions in first person and have it published for the school to read.

     One new aspect to the newspaper is our online version. We are always looking for talented people to work for the online version. This year we have a very dedicated staff of people working daily on new content for our website. We also have a robust social media component, including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. This growing team is looking for serious members to join their ranks. The website can be seen here: http://thedispatchonline.net

Mr. Reeves teaches the newspaper class.

Commercial Photography: 

     This is the one of the fastest growing new programs here at Bowie. It is being offered as an alternative to newspaper (and yearbook) for students interested in learning advance photography skills. Students will learn more about the following types of photography and concepts: studio photography, action/sports photography, fashion photography, product photography, night/star photography, painting with light, lighting, make-up and hair, RAW, Adobe Lightroom, etc.

     Students who enroll in this class are REQUIRED to have their own camera by the end of the first six weeks. Individuals who take commercial photography will be required to participate in after-school projects and will have to be available to shoot after hours events like sporting events, theater/fine arts productions, night photography, etc. Please realize that this class is a BIG step up from photojournalism, you will be required to shoot a lot, and you will have to do that outside of school.

     This is a serious class designed for students who are interested in pursuing a career in photography after high school. There is the potential that eventually students who take this course will earn ACC credit at the completion of three years in the class (so if you are currently a freshman or sophomore).

Ms. Dobrzenski teaches this class and she will be in later this week to talk to you about her program.

Yearbook:

     Students who complete Photojournalism can apply to join the Lone Star yearbook. The book, which is worked on throughout the year, publishes sometime in mid-May each year. The book is about 350 pages long and students in the class are responsible for the creation of two-page spreads. Staff members are responsible for all the content on their spread, including taking pictures, writing captions, headlines, writing stories, and completing personality profiles.

     There is typically a little room for creativity with a portion of the spread, because most of the lay-out and design is done ahead of time by a group of editors selected towards the end of the school year. Much of that work is done during the summer or very early in the school year by a dedicated group of editors. Most of these people are picked in advance and have been in the program for multiple years. You could be one of those people if you wanted.

     Students who want to apply for yearbook must have a letter of recommendation from Mr. Reeves, must complete a paper application and will be required to meet with Ms. Shirack, the yearbook advisor for an interview. Only those selected by Ms. Shirack will be allowed to remain on the class rolls next year. Please do not directly choose the class on your choice sheet without prior approval.

Ms. Shirack teaches this course

WHAT NOW?

If you have questions about which class might be best for you, please talk with me privately and I will make a recommendation based on what skills I see in you. Each class has its strengths and weaknesses and I want you to be in the class that interests you the most and will better prepare you for the real world and your plans for the future. I will be meeting with each of you individually to get your current plans so I can start preparing for next year.