“This is, hands down, everybody’s favorite classroom,” a junior student shares when discussing Mrs. Droginske’s 6th period, also known as School Journalism and Newspaper. “She lets us be self-driven but still manages,” another student states.
The students in 6th period are currently celebrating their most recent publication of The Park Press. January 2024’s edition marks the 6th Issue of Volume 2 and features a variety of Park Profiles, athletic highlights, AI in the classroom suggestions, and a passionate piece regarding the WPHS Yearbook and changes students and staff would like in the yearbooks yet to come.
The students don’t celebrate for long; many of them are using their “Park Press Pass” to work on new and upcoming stories. Those stories may be for their monthly printed editions or for their digital content, available on their website and social media channels. “We begin our pitch day process by asking, ‘Is this newsworthy?’” managing editor Taylor states. “If it’s not newsworthy, how can we approach it at an angle that is?” she continues. Written efforts have also expanded to a monthly podcast entitled, “Experience The Park…Kinda,” hosted by Maliah and Carter who offer Park perspectives from their eyes.
Students share a variety of stories they’ve researched and produced over the last year, highlighting informational pieces, such as the transition from private schools to public schools, to humorous pieces, like a National Chicken Month feature, as well as pieces of a serious, yet necessary nature, like warning signs of depression or suicide. “Students came up to us in the hallway and thanked us for writing that piece,” a student states. “This class has given us the freedom to explore writing,” another student adds.
Mrs. Droginske notes that through a grant form JEA, or the Journalism Education Association, she and her journalism students were able to attend a conference in Boston last year. “This wouldn’t have happened without the support of Ohio County Schools,” Drogiske states, crediting OCS with helping to make the Boston conference a reality, one where a WPHS student even took home a national honorable mention in editorial writing.
With so many available forms of media, students and staff are able to stay up to date on all that Wheeling Park has to offer. The Park Press is distributed monthly to all ELA classes as well as placed in easily accessible common areas. The Park Press students frequently work with middle school students as well. High school students share their knowledge of journalism as middle school simulated workplaces produce their own school-specific media outlets.
Follow The Park Press on Facebook or Instagram or stream their podcast on Spotify. You can also keep your eyes peeled on OCS social media as we will often highlight student-written pieces!
Pictured are Editor in Chief, Lucy Aderholt, and Managing Editor, Taylor Andrews holding up the most recent edition of The Park Press.
Wheeling Park High School
The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register
Journalism Education Association
#experienceTHEPARK