Several weeks before the 2015 fall semester at Plant City High School started, Principal Susan Sullivan and the PTSA invited a group of professionals from around the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World to a business advisory meeting. The emphasis of the meeting was to ask those with unique skills and a passion for volunteerism to mentor the students at PCHS.
This vision was in line with the Plant City Times & Observer’s mission.
We jumped on board, and now that our staff background checks and SERVE forms have been officially approved, we will begin to teach PCHS’ journalism class as a collaboration with yearbook adviser and English teacher Jennifer Hamilton.
Students will learn the basics of journalism: how to format a story, the lede, the inverted pyramid, truth and honesty, fact checking, proper sources, ethics, AP style and the list goes on.
But students will also get a chance to use their creativity, talent and new skills to present innovative content to the community on a special tab at PlantCityObserver.com. The tab is called Raider Review, and its content will be completely student-produced. Raider Review will include news and feature stories, photo galleries, video packages, briefs, and calendar events from PCHS. It is located under the Neighborhood section.
Our staff will mentor the journalism students during teaching sessions, one-on-one critiques and shadowing to ensure they are not only learning but also getting an experience that can provide them with clips and resume bullets when they are applying for colleges or looking for a job in the mass communication field.
Our first teaching session is Friday, Sept. 25. We look forward to adding the first content on the Raider Review tab in the coming month, and we are excited to help ensure a passion for journalism is carried on through the younger generations.
If you are a PCHS student who is not in the journalism class at PCHS but are interested in being part of Raider Review contact Managing Editor Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.