Journalism Honors is a one semester, half credit course, open to all grades and students. In this class, you will learn how to properly write a news article, along with many other styles of writing, like review articles, opinion articles, and  feature articles. You will also learn how to properly interview somebody, how to state facts only, and other different tips and tricks to writing.

A big portion of the class is how to interview somebody. When in class, many assignments will require you to find your own topic of the writing and make your own interview questions. This requires students to think creatively and independently. They must have a decent understanding of whatever topic they choose, then they have to think of 1. Who they would like to interview about this topic, and what they can add to the story. 2. The 20 total questions to try to get as much information as they can out of the interviewee. 3. To acquire credible quotes from their interviewees. And 4. To actually write a story and publish it onto the Paw Print. For all of this, students are given class time to work on your work, but also have time out of class that you need to manage accordingly. Each student is given a rough due date for their assignment, and sometimes, a separate task to complete, such as getting a peer edit for their article. This encourages students to work at their own pace and manage their own time.

Even if you are not interested in becoming a journalist or going into the field of journalism, it is still a very useful class to take. It will teach you valuable writing skills that can be useful later in life. Even if you aren’t interested in going into journalism or anything writing related, you will always find yourself needing to write. Whether it be a report, or a list of questions you need to interview somebody for, you can use the skills taught to you in class. If you aren’t interested in adding another class, or you see no need in the extra half credit it will give you, feel free to sign up for the newspaper club after school.

The class is also very enjoyable to go to. It is a very laid-back environment and encourages students to find a good pace for themselves and experiment a little with their options in high school. I would encourage students to try out this class, even if you aren’t sure you want to pursue it as a career.