The Cougar Star
The Cougar Star is the name of the newspaper and yearbook programs at Clague Middle School. Clague is a main feeder school into Huron. Mrs. Badalamente, The Emery/Enthymion adviser, restarted the newspaper program during the 2019-2020 school year. While I didn't go to Clague, I was super excited to start working with younger aspiring journalists every week.
The Cougar Star website logo designed by Ashley Han, Cougar Star designer and writer. I'm really glad we have a variety of students on the publication. We have been able to do a lot with design, writing and online because of the diversity!
During the 2019-2020 school year, I spent most of my time either teaching to the entire staff or working with individuals. I led lessons on AP style and basic Indesign rules depending on what we were working on that week. As an assistant adviser, I encouraged every staffer to choose topics they were passionate about. My main job was to help each student develop their angle and encourage them throughout the process.
Former Emery Editor-in-Chief Julie Heng working with Cougar Star staffers on a quotes worksheet.
Photo by Sara-Beth Badalamente
Ridhima Kodali, an alumnus of Clague and a freshman at the time also came onto the high school advising team. She is an inspiration for all of the students as she rose to copy editor for The Emery as a freshman and actually knows some of the students already.
Tweet and photo by me!
COUGAR STAR TIMELINE
Jan. 26, 2020
Feb. 2020
May 6, 2020
Nov. 2, 2020
Nov. 10, 2020
Nov. 12, 2020
Mrs. Badalamente, former Emery EIC Julie Heng, and I restart newspaper program with 32 middle school students; weekly meetings begin
First issue of The Cougar Star newspaper is released on Issuu
11 MIPA awards are won by Cougar Star Staff
First meeting of The Cougar Star newspaper of the 2020-2021 year; includes 25-30 students
Beginning of The Cougar Star Yearbook program, 20-25 students begin working on theme elements
I start building and setting up the basic form of TheCougarStar.com and begin an Instagram account
The Newspaper
This year, we are running The Cougar Star completely virtually. This won't stop us from releasing a print issue or a great yearbook but we make sure that every staffer feels comfortable and welcome in our "staff room." We often do somewhat silly things such as playing the birthday cat song or playing Disney music during work time but I think it makes everyone more open to sharing their work. To the right are our introductory slides from the first meeting of the year. We have also encouraged students to use alternative story forms. The world of journalism is always changing and we want our reporters to be ready for any type of reporting.
My favorite Cougar Star articles from this year
When we first started Cougar Star this year, I spent most of my time working on the website. As the website is brand new, I've been working with them on Cougar Star policies such as the mission statement and posting policies. Before we had online editors it was my job to organize all of the stories, copy edit, and to start posting. Below demonstrates the website when we first started versus where it is now. I have since passed the baton to Emery editors Allison and Ridhima to start managing our new online editors.
The Yearbook
Typically, Clague's yearbook is created by a group of advisory students. However, the former yearbook adviser retired and Mrs. Badalamente was brought in! This year will be the first year that the yearbook has a theme. Our first few meetings were spent deciding on a theme, color palette, and verbal/visual elements. As someone who spent weeks developing a theme for Huron's yearbook, I loved being able to go through the same process with the middle school students. To the right is the 2020-2021 yearbook cover. The journalists decided on the theme "Un" as they want to demonstrate all of the ways their school is unique.
Making this the best book ever
Almost all of the yearbook staff is new to yearbook and design. Despite challenges with our yearbook platform and even with learning rules of yearbook design, they all come with so much enthusiasm and always as questions.
Rising (Cougar) stars
Every journalist on our staffs are extremely competent and driven. I love looking at their work and seeing their smiling faces every week (because they actually turn on their cameras). This year we are meeting from 7:00-8:00 am on Mondays for newspaper and Tuesdays for yearbook. They all show extreme commitment by just showing up and being present. Even though I miss my extra hour of sleep on Mondays and Tuesdays, I wouldn't trade it for the experiences I get to have with The Cougar Star journalists. They make me excited for the future of Huron's publications and journalism as a whole.