Sara Wilson: What is your background? How did you come to advise the Northridge paper?

Rhonda Lane: I have a secondary education language arts degree and started teaching English at Northridge in 2013.  A year later, the journalism adviser was retiring and they asked me (the non-tenured one—ha!) if I would do it.  I said sure, and here I am.

 

SW: What were some of the challenges or learning curves you experienced when you became the advisor?

RL: It was incredibly stressful at first. I was basically thrown to the wolves. I was brand new to teaching and knew NOTHING about the paper. I knew NOTHING about Adobe InDesign. I didn't even have a high school paper when I was in school. All the way from brushing up on journalistic writing, trying to learn at least enough of the programs to get by, raising money, and even learning how in the world we go to print and purchase orders, etc., etc., it was all brand new. I admit I was drowning. On top of this, I had to teach two different lessons daily in English. I felt stretched in every direction, and I felt like I was doing a terrible job. If I put more into the paper, my English classes suffered. If I focused more on my English classes, the paper suffered. I know the kids probably thought I was crazy. I had to learn a lot from the seniors on staff the first couple of years. I had to move classrooms to the journalism room, which needed revamping. I spent a lot of time in the summer here, painting and trying to ready things. It was too much, but I did my best.

 

SW: What is a typical day in the journalism classroom like? Or, what is the general process for producing the paper?

RL: We brainstorm and fill in our story/deadline chart on Google, which is shared with the staff. After stories are assigned, we begin working those. I edit and give suggestions on those stories as they come in. They are to revise and send to the page editor.

 

I give a deadline for page design and those finished pages are submitted to our managing editor to place on a masterfile and for editing. The master file is sent to the editor-in-chief for final edits and then to me for final, final edits. I'm trying to get better at putting more of the editing on them. I have spent hours, weekends, etc. editing pages and even editing stories that they were told to edit but didn't. It was infuriating. I just didn't want them or me to look foolish. I am better at letting them make their own mistakes. I pretty much let them choose what they want to do, and give them guidance and advice along the way. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they feel passionate about a story and want to go with it any way. I always tell them, "It's the student paper, not Mrs. Lane's."  They complained that in the past, the adviser would change all of their work before print or micromanaged a bit I guess. But good, bad, or ugly, I try to make it something they own.

 

SW: You are a member of ASPA. What is the value of being part of an organization like that? How does it add value or support to the program?  

RL: I love ASPA.  It is important that we are involved in something like that, not only for the workshops, but also to be given the chance to compete and/or enter the students' work. It means a lot to them, and it looks good for administration to see the program involved and succeeding. I can't afford to be a member of all the national organizations that we should, but I make sure we are a part of ASPA every year.

 

SW: What are the main strengths of the Northridge programs?  

RL: The Northridge Reporter is (apparently) the only gig in town so to speak. It was built and established by a hard-working adviser, and I'm doing my best to continue that tradition. Our students get at least a couple of first-place finishes every year. We had one win the journalist of the year award. She was amazing—I miss her! We had another win the feature writing senior award.  While there's always some that don't take it seriously, or who quit because they thought it would be an "easy" grade, we have some who adore the paper and strive to do their best. It means a lot to them.

 

SW: What are some of the current biggest challenges for the program? What are the program's goals for the future?

RL: TIME. The first year I advised, there was a block class for journalism I, which was more "class-like" and focused on learning to write instead of producing the paper every month. They would contribute to the paper as they wrote stories. Additionally, we had Journalism II, which was fully dedicated to paper production at the end of each day. It was not a "structured" class, and everyone played their role to get the paper done. Then the next year came, and they took it away. We had more English units but they didn't want to hire another teacher and that's how it's been ever since.  Additionally, we began "zero block" in the morning instead of afternoon and "Advisory" last year. We meet for 45 minutes now in the morning (after 10 minutes of pledge, announcements, etc.) We lose several days every month where we don't meet at all due to advisory days and assemblies. Zero block is basically when all of this stuff gets planned because MOST do not have actual classes during that time. We feel like we're always scrambling and never have enough time. The paper has suffered in the past year.

 

Another challenge is recruiting. In the past, many students would just get placed on staff because they had nowhere else to go, or they thought it would be an easy grade. This dragged everything down. Some students prefer yearbook due to the constant deadlines that we have. I have an application process where students must fill it out and get their English teacher to give input on their maturity, since you must work autonomously, go on interviews without supervision, etc. and writing ability. I also work with the guidance counselors and all teachers, giving them what we're looking for and a copy of our application. We have attempted to recruit from the middle school in the past but have been unsuccessful. All of this together means we are a small staff (8), making the task of producing quality papers every month a challenge sometimes. I would really like to see our staff grow with students who have a true interest in journalism. I would LOVE to have more time. While things are tough now under tough circumstances, I hope the value of this program is recognized and viewed as important as any sport or core class.

 

SW: Finally, why is scholastic journalism important?  

RL: Where do I begin? Obviously it builds fantastic writing skills, great for college and life.  It teaches students about integrity and fairness. It allows students to produce something that is theirs, that they can be proud of. It builds confidence in the shyest students. It gives some students a home, a place where they "fit in."  It allows students, some whose voice I never heard before, build confidence in communicating with others (interviews, etc.) and deal with uncomfortable situations. It allows students to pursue a passion: writing, photography, design...