Coming into my freshman year, I knew it was going to be a big change from middle school, and attending Mount Vernon would bring more career opportunities with the classes it offers. I talked to Mrs. Watts about how I wanted to major in sports journalism. She suggested I take a class called Principles of Media. I took her up on the idea and was very optimistic on what this class would be like. 

To start the class off, Dr. Jamey VanZandt, our teacher, showed us a PowerPoint on everything to get started in Principles of Media I. This PowerPoint broke down everything from interviewing to our developing story topics and the different kinds of stories we would be writing about each month. Dr. VanZandt also posted a PowerPoint to the classroom about the LTQ method. The LTQ (Lead Transition Quote) method is how you set up your average story. First, start with a two sentence lead to address the 4 W’s (Who, What, When, and Where,) then you use transition sentences to go into your quotes. About a week later Dr. VanZandt showed us some stories we could choose from on the monthly storyboard.

I decided I would write my first story on MV football. I’m a big fan of anything and everything sports related, and I have been since I was younger, so I knew this would be a great idea for me. My first story posted to the Vernois News was “Rams Coach Greg Graves ‘optimistic’ as grid season continues.” In this story I interviewed Mr. Greg Graves and Mr. Seth English, the Athletic Director. I thought it was a good start to my journalism career, especially being able to write about something in which I am so interested.

The longer I was in the program, the more diverse my stories became. While most of my stories were still about sports, I created other stories as well, consisting of “Coach Greg Graves, Mrs. Holly McKay join MV ranks,” where I reported about Mr. Graves joining the MV Staff, and Mrs. McKay returning after a  six-year absence, while she taught at Saint Mary Middle School. Billy White and I also created “PM I, VPG classes travel to Fairfield to tour Iconik Studio,” where we talked about the two classes gaining photographic knowledge and learning the camera’s manual settings.

In early November, Dr. VanZandt talked to me about joining as an editor on the Vernois News staff. I accepted the invitation to join the editorial staff, and, along with the invitation to join the Editorial Staff, I was given the opportunity to take an Independent Study class instead of Principles of Media II.

With the fall season of sports coming to an end and winter being closer than ever, my coverage of football had stopped since the season had ended. With winter coming up I created “Winter sports return at MV,” where I talked about the returning winter sports seasons. Afterward, I decided to write some stories on the Rams basketball teams and their seasons. Before we went on Christmas break I published “Rams place 3rd, Benson and Swan make All-Tourney Team,” where I discussed the Rams play in the Metro East Lutheran Tournament, and interviewed Senior Rams N.J. Benson, Jackson Swan, and Calan Kujawa.

After Christmas break, I moved from fourth hour Principles of Media I to first hour Independent Study. For my first story in Independent Study, I covered the Lady Rams placing first in the Benton Christmas Classic, where I interviewed players like Claire Heinzman, Jacie Dees, and Kennady Hayes.

Now, as it’s the start of March and winter is coming to an end, I’ve published “Spring sports return at MV,” where I break each of the spring sports down, like I did with my winter sports column. Those sports include baseball, softball, men’s track and field, women’s track and field, men’s tennis, and women’s soccer. 

Overall, the Vernois News has been a great experience in the little time I have been associated with the program. My experience working with the newspaper has opened my eyes to the possibilities for my future in writing. 

If you or someone you know who attends MV wants to have a future in writing or just wants to write for the fun of it, then I would highly recommend joining Vernois News.

Vernois News… What’s your story?