After editing articles, senior Jack Bowen, co-editor of the Pilgrim Perspective, mischievously enjoys his break occupying Mrs. Gifford's chair. Photo by: Michaela Moreno
By Michaela Moreno
Plymouth High School’s journalism class has come a long way in the last decade. It has especially come a long way in the last couple years thanks to seniors Matthew Libersky and Jack Bowen. These two editors have many responsibilities in journalism and with those responsibilities comes freedom.
Bowen’s history as a journalist began his sophomore year. “At the time, I dreamed of being a writer for my favorite gaming magazine Nintendo Power,” Bowen explained. Libersky joined journalism as a sophomore as well. “I thought it would be fun to be a reporter and keeping on top of things,” said Libersky.
Just like the rest of the journalism staff, Bowen and Libersky write articles . Along with writing , their responsibilities include reading and proofing other students’ articles. They also create and keep track of deadlines for when those articles are due. Then there is the preparation of the photos for those articles. Bowen and Liberskys’ duties as editors vary greatly from publishing articles to other things like calling up advertisers. “I also take charge of the classroom whenever Mrs. Gifford is absent,” claimed Bowen.
Aside from their usual roles, Bowen and Libersky have prepared a presentation to recruit Lincoln Junior High students for next year’s journalism class. Additionally the two editors have been working on a new layout for the school newspaper so that it will be more appealing for future readers.
With so much freedom given to the editors, it is scary to think of errors and mistakes. But for Bowen and Libersky, mistakes are not so scary. “Mrs. Gifford likes to point out when we do [make mistakes], to make sure we know that we do,” said Libersky. And pointing out those mistakes helps these two seniors learn from them. “Making errors is part of being human,” said Bowen.
In journalism, there are guidelines in place to define what good journalism writing is acceptable for publication. Although theses restrictions are for the best, the editors cannot help but wish they could do a thing or two that they are not allowed. “I think it would be fun to write an article that changes the ways something is done in this school or uncover some really important information that has been hidden from the public, but I’m fine with staying away from those touchy subjects,” Bowen said. Libersky, on the other hand, wishes that they could, “still actually print the paper, the administration’s paperless initiative has really changed how we do things.”
Bowen and Libersky have been active members of the journalism class since they were sophomores. Much has happened in the three years that they have been involved. They both agree that the transition from paper to computer was the greatest change. Back in the day, they were printing the paper, as well as the questionnaires. According to Libersky, there was quite a bit of work involved when printing. Now they send questionnaires through Google Docs and the paper is completely online. Thus, leading to the outcome of more articles in shorter time periods.
In spite of the three years in Journalism class, Bowen and Liberskys’ futures are yet to be determined. Libersky believes that he will go into a field of journalism on the side while in college. After that, Libersky cannot say. Bowen, who dreamed of becoming a writer for Nintendo Power, is now aspiring to become a secondary education English teacher. Nothing is set in stone for him either though. “The future is still a bit hazy,” Bowen says, “but, no matter what I do, I know that it will involve reading and writing in which Mrs. Gifford’s journalism class has helped me immensely.”