WHS students write, edit and learn at The Wolverine Scoop

Weiser High School teacher Rebecca Gonzales is in her 24th year of overseeing the monthly student newspaper, The Wolverine Scoop, an eight-page paper that comes out the last week of the month from October through May.

 Gonzales began as a club adviser, and then in the summer of 1996 got her journalism credential and began teaching it as a class.

 This year is one of her largest classes with 19 students. During the 24-year span, there wasn’t enough interest to put a journalism class into the schedule for five years, and the paper was done as a club. 

 “It’s been nice that we’ve been able to add it back to the school day,” Principal Dave Davies said. “It’s one more elective for our kids to be exposed to.”

 Assisting Gonzales are her senior and junior editors. This year Cami Thomas and Damia Mosley are the senior editors, and Merci Vargas and Yerika Marquez are the junior editors. Kali Branstetter, sophomore, is the photographer for the Scoop. 

 The class has many different facets, which is part of why it is so important.  

 Gonzales spoke about things the students learn. 

 “I like that they learn to meet deadlines, prioritize, to be responsible for their own work, and to express themselves.”

 During the first semester, the class is a mix of article writing and book work. This year the district was able to purchase new textbooks. Mondays and part of Tuesdays are set aside for a chapter in the textbook.  

 The rest of the day Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays are for practicing. On Friday, thanks to the generosity of a donation from a local business, the class goes over a local  newspaper and analyzes the articles.

 At the beginning of the month, there is a break from the book work to get the paper ready to go. Gonzales sits down with her editors and decides what articles they want for the next paper. 

 Then on a Monday the articles are divvied up between the students. There are usually between 40 and 60 articles each month. The kids have the rest of that week to interview people, get their information and write their articles. They are due the following Monday. 

 The articles range in subject from feature articles, to opinion/editorial, sports, and current and local news. In February the newspaper has a larger, more in-depth article that each student contributes to. In May, the Scoop is basically dedicated to the seniors and graduation. 

 After the articles are turned in, Gonzales edits them. The senior editors begin laying out the 8 page paper. The paper is an actual newspaper size, and Gonzales said that if funding wasn’t an issue, she thinks they could go back to a 12 page paper.

 Laying out the paper is a time consuming task, made more difficult by the fact that the only computer the senior editors can use is the main one Gonzales uses. This means the editors often have to come in during Gonzales’ prep period, or stay late on Fridays to get their work done. 

 She has dreams of one day being able to have a computer dedicated solely for newspaper use. But not only would they have to purchase a computer, but the software that helps create the paper. That runs around $200 yearly. 

 Some of her expenses of creating and publishing the paper were covered by grants from the Gear-Up program, but since it has moved down to the middle school, the paper has had to find funding elsewhere. 

 Gonzales is very thankful that with the help from the Weiser Chamber of Commerce, she had eight local businesses step up and sponsor issues. 

 Principal Davies was able to find the funds to cover the computer program for the year. 

 Gonzales is passionate about the class. “This program is so important to me because kids leave with marketable job skills,” she said. 

 Students from her class have written for the Weiser Signal American, their college papers, and some have even become professional writers.

 Christen McCurdy is a 1999 Weiser graduate who is currently the news editor of The Skanner News, a weekly community newspaper in Portland. 

 She started with just contributing articles her freshman year, and worked up to being a senior editor on The Wolverine Scoop. 

 After graduation she worked on her college’s paper, OSU’s The Daily Barometer. From there she did an internship in Grants Pass at the Daily Courier, then moved back to Weiser and wrote for The Argus Observer for 2 years. 

 McCurdy spent 10 years working as a freelance writer in the Portland area until she landed her current job. While she learned much over the years, she is appreciative of the boost Gonzales’s class gave her. 

 “When I work with younger, less experienced reporters I’m continually reminded how important it is to be able to write a tight, to-the-point news story quickly – and how fortunate I am to have learned to do it in a classroom and not on the clock.” 

 While 1997 graduate Kayla Thomas never took the journalism class, she did participate in the newspaper when it was club. She went on to get a bachelor’s degree in communication with a minor in English from Washington State University. 

 She is a full-time author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Between Honors English and journalism, she credits Gonzales for helping guide her. 

 Thomas said, “Mrs. Gonzales always encouraged my creativity and gave me the confidence to use my voice.”