One of the most important things about being a journalist is covering everyone.
Pride Week highlights importance of inclusivity
Every March, AISD hosts Pride Week, a celebration of LGBTQIA+ students and staff with the goal of creating a more inclusive and supportive environment. I chose to cover the events that took place during Pride Week to highlight Bowie’s Sexual and Gender Alliance Club and the events to come. Covering this event taught me a lot about the importance of elevating the voices of marginalized communities.
READING ALOUD: Senior El Wechsler participates in the Pride Week open mic poetry reading during FIT. “One big thing to keep in mind always is you shouldn’t just be prideful on Pride Week,” Wechsler said. “You should always be proud of who you are.” Photo by Natalie Cullen
Swantner shines on school dance squad
I created a video to accompany a story written by one of my peers. As the only male dancer on either drill team at Bowie, Swantner has faced adversity and backlash due to the stigmatization of male dancers. I created this video to highlight Swantner's experience and plans for his future in dance.
Why teachers love their jobs
I created this video during the last week of online school during the 2019-2020 school year to highlight the teachers at Bowie and their love for their professions. I think that it is important to represent the campus as a whole, which includes not just students but faculty and staff.
Social Media Coverage
Aside from what we publish in our paper and on our website, I find social media to be a great platform to showcase the student body.
Humans of Bowie
As an effort to feature more students in our work, I started creating Instagram posts under the tag "Humans of Bowie". In these posts, we interview a student on a variety of topics based on what their hobbies and passions are. I also created "CTE spotlight", where we interview students in career and technology courses.
Staff Spotlight
I started this series to feature the teachers and staff on our campus. Many of them have great stories to tell, and I've encouraged staff members to interview teachers to showcase their lives outside of the classroom. Attached above are posts I helped staff members create and edit.
Spirit Day Coverage
During each student council-led spirit day, I encourage staff members to photograph students dressing up and showcasing their school spirit. This draws a lot of attention to our social media pages and increases student engagement while featuring many students on our platform.