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Every year, but especially in a presidential election year, it’s important for students to be leaders in their school by covering the elections as they pertain to the local community and their school in particular. With this lesson, students will explore how to cover local, state or national elections through the lens of their school audience.
During the second half of the school year, students and advisers must devote attention to choosing staff leaders and recruiting new members for the following year. This lesson will help students decide the criteria by which they choose their leaders and help walk them through the process of selecting their next leadership team. It will also help them consider the methods they use to recruit new staff members.
A good staff knows that working together to produce student media is an involved and challenging process that involves a constant series of decisions. Getting clear on a few key elements that matter most will help the staff focus its efforts. This lesson will expose students to the idea of core values. Students will identify their individual core values and determine the core values of the staff. Based on those core values, they will develop goals for the year. Students will periodically re-evaluate their goals and reflect on their performance in order to determine what adjustments to make.
Advisers want their staff members to be committed to their work. What greater way to symbolize commitment than to have a wedding ceremony during which all staff members express their devotion to the media for the year ahead. While the type of ceremony will vary from simple to elaborate,the symbolism of the commitment is the main objective.
Just like teachers continue their growth with activities like professional development and professional learning communities, students will participate in a professional learning community to help advance their learning when it comes to media. The idea is to shift the thinking of a staff from a group that tries things they have seen other staffs do to a staff who that leads the way, trying things on its own and setting an example to follow.