Newspaper project leaves an imprint on class
By Janelle Randazza
PEABODY—After almost twelve years of lying dormant, the school newspaper has been resurrected at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School by Nanette Farrell’s journalism class.
“I think there was a real need for a newspaper. It allows people to see the school through the eyes of other people and I think it might give them a more dimensional look,” said senior Ross Liberti, who got on staff through Farrell’s class.
“The Tanner” first went to press in 1968 and was printed twice a year in the high school’s print shop until September of 1978, when the shop was phased out due to budget cuts. Over the course of the next 17 years the paper came in and out of being, mainly due to budget cuts, until it was completely phased out of existence in 1994.
The paper, which is 100 percent written by students in Farrell’s class, was redubbed “The Tanner Times” for its inaugural issue, which hit the hallways on January 20. Farrell said the students chose the new name both to give the paper a more newsy feel and to breathe new life into a paper both students and teachers felt had a run of bad luck.
Farrell and her students all thought it was necessary to have a place for students to both express themselves in a written forum and to write for an audience.
“I thought it was really a shame that a school of almost 2000 students didn’t have a newspaper. Having a newspaper is a basic indicator of whether you have a student voice,” said Farrell.
The paper was born out of Farrell’s journalism class, which is offered as an elective to sophomores, juniors and seniors. Farrell presented the students with it as a project, where the class planned content and designed a proposed layout for the eight-page paper. They spent the semester developing stories and Farrell edited their work and produced the final product.
“I did it all on the cheap,” said Farrell who solicited a friend’s help to layout the paper in its newsletter-style format. “I probably worked about 20 hours typing in, editing and flowing in the articles and I got a lot of help from the other teachers, specifically Michaelene Hauge, Lawrie Bertram and Bill Toscano.”
Farrell said she is grateful for all the help she received but hopes that the future might provide more resources for the students.
“There were definitely challenges. Looking back there was a time when there was a print shop; there was a time when the school had a relationships with newspapers and printers so that the kids could learn not just about the writing but they could explore this as an actual career choice. I’m hoping that with help of the community maybe we can bring the paper up to that level again,” said Farrell.
As for her students, they see the paper continuing long after they have left the halls of PVMHS.
“I can definitely see it growing and I think that, as it get bigger, there will be more opportunity to write about a variety of things,” said Liberti.
In the meantime, senior Evan Coltin is happy to use the paper as a way of exploring the world of journalism. Coltin, whose style leans towards editorial writing, said that through the newspaper project he became more aware of what engages him as a reader.
“I tried to give my articles a good hook in the beginning and I tried to make them humorous. I love humor and anything that has to do with humor and I tried to incorporate that in my writing,” said Coltin. “My humor ranges from fart jokes to sophisticated humor and I ultimately hope to use both in my writing.”
Both Coltin and Liberti enjoyed being able to read the perspectives of their classmates and to explore a new and challenging ways of expressing themselves.
“It was a challenge to write non-fiction. I usually write fiction but when you write non-fiction you learn more factually. Non-fiction comes from outside in, while fiction is from the inside out,” said Liberti. “It would have been great to have been able to work on the paper for longer. I think it has a lot of possibilities.”
As for Farrell, she agrees with her students that the potential of the paper has yet to be fully realized. But, as a one-woman editing and production dynamo, she says that right now she is taking “baby steps.”
“I try to remind myself that it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It’s not about crossing the finish line and – you don’t do a full sprint as soon as you get out there – but with some work we’ll get there.”
PEABODY—After almost twelve years of lying dormant, the school newspaper has been resurrected at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School by Nanette Farrell’s journalism class.
“I think there was a real need for a newspaper. It allows people to see the school through the eyes of other people and I think it might give them a more dimensional look,” said senior Ross Liberti, who got on staff through Farrell’s class.
“The Tanner” first went to press in 1968 and was printed twice a year in the high school’s print shop until September of 1978, when the shop was phased out due to budget cuts. Over the course of the next 17 years the paper came in and out of being, mainly due to budget cuts, until it was completely phased out of existence in 1994.
The paper, which is 100 percent written by students in Farrell’s class, was redubbed “The Tanner Times” for its inaugural issue, which hit the hallways on January 20. Farrell said the students chose the new name both to give the paper a more newsy feel and to breathe new life into a paper both students and teachers felt had a run of bad luck.
Farrell and her students all thought it was necessary to have a place for students to both express themselves in a written forum and to write for an audience.
“I thought it was really a shame that a school of almost 2000 students didn’t have a newspaper. Having a newspaper is a basic indicator of whether you have a student voice,” said Farrell.
The paper was born out of Farrell’s journalism class, which is offered as an elective to sophomores, juniors and seniors. Farrell presented the students with it as a project, where the class planned content and designed a proposed layout for the eight-page paper. They spent the semester developing stories and Farrell edited their work and produced the final product.
“I did it all on the cheap,” said Farrell who solicited a friend’s help to layout the paper in its newsletter-style format. “I probably worked about 20 hours typing in, editing and flowing in the articles and I got a lot of help from the other teachers, specifically Michaelene Hauge, Lawrie Bertram and Bill Toscano.”
Farrell said she is grateful for all the help she received but hopes that the future might provide more resources for the students.
“There were definitely challenges. Looking back there was a time when there was a print shop; there was a time when the school had a relationships with newspapers and printers so that the kids could learn not just about the writing but they could explore this as an actual career choice. I’m hoping that with help of the community maybe we can bring the paper up to that level again,” said Farrell.
As for her students, they see the paper continuing long after they have left the halls of PVMHS.
“I can definitely see it growing and I think that, as it get bigger, there will be more opportunity to write about a variety of things,” said Liberti.
In the meantime, senior Evan Coltin is happy to use the paper as a way of exploring the world of journalism. Coltin, whose style leans towards editorial writing, said that through the newspaper project he became more aware of what engages him as a reader.
“I tried to give my articles a good hook in the beginning and I tried to make them humorous. I love humor and anything that has to do with humor and I tried to incorporate that in my writing,” said Coltin. “My humor ranges from fart jokes to sophisticated humor and I ultimately hope to use both in my writing.”
Both Coltin and Liberti enjoyed being able to read the perspectives of their classmates and to explore a new and challenging ways of expressing themselves.
“It was a challenge to write non-fiction. I usually write fiction but when you write non-fiction you learn more factually. Non-fiction comes from outside in, while fiction is from the inside out,” said Liberti. “It would have been great to have been able to work on the paper for longer. I think it has a lot of possibilities.”
As for Farrell, she agrees with her students that the potential of the paper has yet to be fully realized. But, as a one-woman editing and production dynamo, she says that right now she is taking “baby steps.”
“I try to remind myself that it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It’s not about crossing the finish line and – you don’t do a full sprint as soon as you get out there – but with some work we’ll get there.”
posted by Janelle at 10:53 AM
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