Writing
While many other things, at their core, journalists are writers. Writing allows us to learn about the world around us and each individual within it. Reading these creations can provide insight into the lives and personalities of their authors, one of my favorite aspects of the world of journalism.
​
Click the image to read full story
2022-2023 | Editor-in-Chief
As Editor-in-Chief of the North Pointe, when I am assigned to a story, I know that it is my responsibility to mentor and assist my partners with every aspect of the creation process, especially writing. I review the proper way to include quotes, AP style guidelines, and help write questions to assure that we acquire adequate information and emotion. I have seen tremendous growth in my writing since I first joined North Pointe. Now, I can confidently say that each piece I produce is unbiased, accurate, detailed, influential, and evokes emotion. This skill has proved to be an asset in many other aspects of my life, including schooling, college applications, outside work, and even translates to my speech.
Lockdown inconsistencies warrant protocol changes
(Volume 55, Issue 5)
On December 19th, Grosse Pointe North was put into lockdown after police received an active shooter threat. Students and teachers were barricaded into classrooms while police searched the building. As a reporter, it is often hard to cover topics that brought harm and fear, but I felt that it was necessary to give students more information on what had happened and how we will move forward as a school community. I was able to get into contact with the detective that was first to arrive at the scene, and I believe that his insight was a very important addition to the story. I was also able to talk to students and teachers about their individual experiences during the lockdown. Everyone handled the situation in a different manner, which helped us learn about the inconsistencies that need to be examined and changed for future safety. I am so glad that we were able to cover the topic, and in a way, writing the piece felt like a form of closure.
Passing the ball
(Volume 55, Issue 4)
This year, Rob Johnson became the new boys varsity basketball coach at North, and I felt that it would be interesting to cover it. However, my writing partner and I did not take a traditional approach to the story. Instead of simply talking to him and his team about their goals for the season, we decided to talk to his father, and make the story about his life leading up to this moment, as it has always been something that he has wanted to do. I love that we took that approach. The story is inspiring and captures Johnson’s life. I feel as though the art for the story would have been more meaningful if it had been a picture of Johnson with his father on the court. Being a part of this writing process taught me how to respectfully communicate needs, as one of the interviews needed to be done quickly. In the future, I do not want to cover stories in a basic way. Instead, I want to look for angles that are more like this one.
Cotton, St. John and Jeup elected to school board
(Volume 55, Issue 3)
This year’s school board elections were heated, even calling for a recount. The candidates elected to the board differed in their beliefs and were very vocal about changes that they would like to see within the school system. We covered the story in a timely, appropriate and unbiased manner, which is why I chose to include this piece. Both of the newly-elected members that we covered were written about equally in terms of quotes and length. However, we could not get a hold of the third newly-elected member. She initially agreed to an interview, but then did not respond to multiple follow-up emails. Because of this, the story seemed incomplete. I feel that I, and others, handled the situation in an appropriate manner, and being a part of the story taught me how to let our readers know when there has been a problem. I hope to have the chance to interview the third newly-elected member and publish her portion of the story in the future.
New safety protocols take effect
(Volume 55, Issue 2)
Safety has been a very prominent area of focus this year at North. Because of this, it was important that we covered the changes that were made to safety protocols. I feel that this story covered every change that was put into place, including student monitoring, safety drills, and the new Dean of Student Culture and Community. I do feel that the section on drills could have been stronger. The sources were not able to share much about changes that were made, and the changes were not as drastic as we had thought they were when we planned for the story. I am glad that we included a poll, showing the number of students that feel safe at school. This piece taught me to do careful research when planning before it is too late. I like the style of this story, with separate sections and a specific feature on someone important to the topic, and hope to do more articles like this in the future.
National inflation reaches student union (Volume 55, Issue 1)
When the price of cookies and other goods in the school union increased for the first time in years, frequent union customers were quick to notice. Tying the increase to the general price increases we were seeing in the country at the time, I feel that this story tied together news within the North building to news on a much larger scale. Our range of sources accurately covered both sides of the topic, those upset with the price increase, and Peggy Bonbrisco, who made the price increases, on why the change was necessary. While I am very proud of the story itself, I am not satisfied with the art that accompanies it. I feel as though it looks last minute, and the picture is framed awkwardly. Writing this story showed me that national issues affect much smaller groups and organizations, and even though I do not hope another national issue reaches North, I hope to write about the connection when it does.
2021-2022Â | Managing Editor
This was the year that I found my voice and clear passion showcased in my writing. I was able to evoke and express emotion in an unbiased and professional manner. I used that same voice to take on larger interviews with distinguished community members and took it upon myself to attend events that related directly to my stories, allowing me to write about first-hand experience. When I look back on many of my pieces from this school year, I notice that many of them, while clearly on topic, did not inspire. Since, I have strived to make each story that I write one that causes discussion and has the ability to lead to change and focus on the topic at hand.
​
AWARDS:
- Honorable Mention: Bylined Opinion Article
- Honorable Mention: Environmental, Health or Science
- Honorable Mention: Sports Feature Story
Under new management
(Volume 54, Senior Issue)
This was the last story I wrote for the North Pointe as Managing Editor. During the writing process, I was able to discuss my goals for the following year with the future Managing Editors, Grace and Annabelle. We were truly able to convey our plans and the ideas that we will focus on in the 2022-2023 school year. I wish we had expanded on who we are as a group, our personal qualities and how we plan to lead individually and as a team. However, I am happy to report that we have accomplished many of the goals that we discussed, including the modernization of the paper. We completely redesigned every page and expanded to 16 pages. I am excited to finish the year with Grace and Annabelle by my side.
Bestselling author and professor visits Ford House
(Volume 54, Issue 7)
to attend the event that we wrote about, where I watched an inspiring musical performance, listened to Dr. Kendi speak on the topic of racism and had the opportunity to speak with other journalists. The story displayed the research we did on the event and its importance in Grosse Pointe. I wish we had been able to Interview Dr. Kendi himself, but the interviews that we did get were very strong. The process of writing this article informed me of the history of racism in Grosse Pointe and introduced me to conversations that I hadn't been a part of before. I enjoyed the experience in its entirety and would love to attend something similar in the future.
Protecting this house and each other
(Volume 54, Issue 4)
Honorable Mention: Bylined Opinion Article
In the month following the tragedy at Oxford, the Editor-in-Chief, Farrah, and I decided that it was important to address the occurrence in our publication. Instead of focusing on the event itself, we talked about the ways that we, as a community, would move forward as one. This is one of the most meaningful stories that I have ever been a part of. Writing it helped me realize how I would move forward as an individual and as a part of my school and community. I am proud of the content included in the story, but feel as though we could have included a more powerful piece of art. We did not have any ideas, and the art was very last minute. I like the idea, but due to the weight of the topic, it seems as if we could have created something that was more profound and powerful. I hope that I never have to write another story like this one, but it taught me that writing about a topic is a good way to learn about your own thoughts.
2020-2021Â | Section Editor
As a Section Editor, I truly felt like a leader. I was confident that I had the ability to write a story alone, and I was comfortable communicating with and interviewing important individuals outside of North. When I look back at these, I am truly proud of my writing and have only minor critiques. While I was definitely taking on larger stories and challenging myself with important interviews, many of the stores would benefit from a community source, which they do not have. I had not yet acquired the courage to utilize my communication skills with individuals that were not directly related back to Grosse Pointe North. I am proud that I took on a variety of news stories related to the pandemic, and even shared my own opinion in a review.
​
AWARDS:
- 3rd place: Online Follow-up
Diversifying our online and print presence
(Volume 53, Senior Issue)
At the end of my sophomore year, I interviewed for the position of managing editor and was given the role. For the senior issue of the paper, I announced my new position, told readers about myself, and shared my plans for the future of North Pointe. We were making our return as a print publication after an entire year of being solely online. I felt that it was important to let our readers know exactly how we would use each of our platforms. I also felt that much of the North Pointe culture at Grosse Pointe North was lost during the pandemic and that we needed to do something to bring readers and excitement back. I feel that every word in this article has an important purpose and that I conveyed everything that I wanted to when I was planning for the story. I am currently preparing to write my farewell letter for this year's senior issue, and plan to pull inspiration from this article to reflect on my goals for the paper.
Board votes on return to face-to-face learning
(Volume 53, Issue 6)
3rd Place: Online Follow-up
Schooling during the pandemic was a very controversial topic. When our school board voted to bring us back to in-person school after a year of online learning, I knew it was important to cover. I wrote alongside Farrah Fasse, who was an experienced news story writer and taught me how to handle the large topic in a professional and unbiased manner. We listened to the school board meeting recordings, talked to school board members and students, and researched both sides of the topic. I feel that we covered the return to school appropriately. Writing the story allowed me to learn more about the controversy over in-person learning, and why many people had concerns. After so many stories about the pandemic, this felt like we were close to the end.
2019-2020Â | Staff Reporter
When I entered the North Pointe room on my first day of freshman year, I was not a journalist. Throughout the course of the year, I pushed myself to develop my writing, reporting, critical thinking, and interviewing skills, immersing myself in everything journalism. Each story that I wrote contained all the necessary information and was accompanied by eye catching art that continued the story in a beneficial way. While my writing was very formulaic, I believe that I excelled to my full potential. It is amazing to look back at my first published stories, compare them to my content now, and see every way that my writing has developed. The feeling of excitement that comes with seeing your name published in the paper is something that has never gone away.
"Breathe a better life"
(Volume 52, Issue 6)
Shortly before we wrote this in-depth, centered around the issue of vaping, a boy in the Grosse Pointe community had been the first person to receive a double lung transplant after his lungs collapsed from vaping. Because of this, we felt that it was a very important issue to write about. As a freshman, I was very intimidated by the length and content of the story. However, the staff members that I was writing with guided me through the process, and taught me many writing and interviewing techniques that I continue to utilize. I was very appreciative of their leadership and have made sure to do the same for those that I write with now. I am very happy with the way that the story turned out, and feel that the art brings the article to life. Not only is there eye-catching art, the infographic shares important information and includes resources to help those that face addiction.
Seniors collaborate on musical and art promotion
(Volume 52, Issue 1)
This is the first story that I wrote for the North Pointe. I was nervous about every aspect of the process. I was scared to interview and was not confident in my writing skills. However, my writing partner, Farrah Fasse, was an outstanding mentor and helped me overcome my fears. We interviewed a musical and art duo, who made music with impressive cover art. Aside from that, we researched instagram engagement and included information about the team’s potential fanbase. I was so proud to be featured in the paper when the issue came out. When I read the story, I can truly see my personal growth that has occurred as a member of the North Pointe staff.