Story and photos by Elle Gast ’31
Have you ever wondered who writes the amazing Winter Term articles? It’s the students in MICDS Newsroom! In the course MICDS Newsroom, students are given the opportunity to become real writers and photographers. They explore what other Winter Term classes are working on and learning. The journalists interview other students, document what they are doing, and take many pictures. After, they use their collected information to write an article based on their assigned Winter Term course. Finally, when they publish their story they get to ring a gong to celebrate their story going out to the world. Heidi Millman ’31 was the first to ring the gong. MICDS Newsroom is a great way to learn many practical skills that can be used now and in the future.
MICDS Newsroom is led by Dr. Jody Marberry, Middle School Math Teacher, accompanied by Allison Light, Associate Director of Marketing and Communications, Amy Zlatic, Director of Marketing and Communications, Crystal D’Angelo, Marketing and Communications Manager, and Paul Colletti, Multimedia Specialist. These teachers and staff members help teach the students more about their job and what would be good to do while writing their articles in the Danforth Middle School Conference Room.
Students have taken this as an opportunity to more deeply explore what other courses are doing. This unique perspective might impact what courses they might pick next year, while including fun ways to learn and grow.
What Ms. Light loves most about her job is that “Every day is different, and every day is challenging. Each day challenges me in some kind of creative way.” Each week, she is given multiple assignments and opportunities to go and explore different experiences in our community.
On a bit of a different note, Dr. Marberry expresses, “I love the people at MICDS—the people I work with, the students, and their families. This is just a really great community.” The MICDS community has been so welcoming and kind to many students. Everyone in the community has helped people to grow and mature into their greater selves.
Something that is so amazing about the jobs of our MICDS news reporters is that, as Ms. D’Angelo says, “Whether I am assigned a specific story or just out and about, I can walk down the hallway and see a variety of life experiences happening. I love that my job involves being part of telling so many wonderful stories.” This shows just how amazing and unique their jobs are. They get to go around and see real-life experiences as they are happening and turn those into amazing stories.
In this course, students are experiencing the work of being a photographer. Many have expressed that this was what they wanted to improve on, including Bailee Hale ’31. At the onset of the class, Bailee stated she wanted to “overall become a better photographer.” The teachers of the course MICDS Newsroom have been so helpful to many in guiding them to progress with their camera skills, teaching them different angles and sizes.
Students are also learning how to gather information and turn that into a story. Heidi has expressed, “I want to learn how to document what other people are doing better and make sure I don’t forget key details.” Using these skills is very important and will help each student become stronger in many skills, including writing, reading, photography, and so much more.
Overall, the opportunities that are given in this class are unlimited. So many students have learned numerous new skills and progressed significantly. MICDS Newsroom is a great way to improve your writing and photography skills. The students would definitely recommend this class for next year’s Winter Term experience.