SCHOOL NEWSPAPER

Number of Hours: 15

The first term of this year, the CAS coordinator created a school newspaper. I was one of the three editors, and I was also in charge of writing the service section in the newspaper. I also helped in the sports and events section of the newspaper with pictures and news.

I hoped to learn some skills that I will use in my high school and university career. Some of these skills are: creative writing, selection of sources, persuasive speech, organisation and punctuality. Moreover I wanted to be involved in this new type of activity in the school so I could learn more about newspaper publishing.

The most difficult task I had to face was finishing the articles on time. All members had time constraints as they were also involved in other activities, and could not manage to write the articles on time. We had delays and had to hurry even more to not have more delays. I had to concentrate and devote time to the newspaper so I could finish on time.

I believe the activity was successful to an extent, as we could publish a successful and interesting first issue. However, we had so many obstacles including the blackouts in Quito, so the activity was cancelled.

I learned many skills, that include writing effective and persuasive writing, selection of reliable sources, building-up my voice as a reliable narrator, designing and editing. I also learned to organize my time so that I can complete all tasks on time and dedicate them the time they deserve.

The CAS coordinator taught me many skills to create an effective newspaper article. The organisation I learned by myself as a result of the problems I had to face in this experience. I will use this experience in university and other similar projects that involve creative writing.

The school newspaper allows the school to develop into a bigger community as this is a form of communication to reach students, teachers and parents. Moreover it was a project which was done by students and for students and its success depended on students will.