You read the articles. You look at the photos. You see the headers. You watch the videos.  But how are these things created? What do you really know about what goes on behind the scenes of your favorite news team?

We basically get to do whatever we want, as long as it’s for journalism. Once, we even made one of our journalism staff wear a Chewbacca mask and robe- sorry, Sol!

To start off, there are five main jobs in journalism. There are the writers, the photographers, the web designers, our video makers, and the SODC interviewer.

Inside the writers’ grouping, there are also sections: the school news writers, the movie review writer, the Big News writer, the sports writer, the school news writers and the normal writers. The writers produce an article every two weeks.  People who aren’t writers can also create articles if they choose to. For the writers, their topics range from funny Chives to serious issues.

“I like writing about funny stuff that includes puns, I’m sorry!” said Demiana. You should be sorry, Demiana. Those puns are punimportant!

You can pretty much write about whatever you’d like. Jonas D. enjoys writing about sports. “I’ve played baseball my whole life, and it’s good to write about something familiar,” he said.

Sydnee R. explains, “I mostly wanted to be a journalist because I really like writing, and I’m really opinionated, so I wanted to share some of that stuff.”

Next occupation: our photographers. Photographers take pictures for articles. They can think up the most bizarre photos that correspond with the article’s writing.

“One time, I asked the whole class to bring in rainbow loom. We brought in this girl for a photo, and we got six people. We told them to throw rainbow loom at her, so it looks like she’s controlling the rainbow loom. Basically, this girl was covered in rubber bands by the end of it,” said Eve H.

Of course, sometimes photos don’t go so well. Ella D. recalls a disastrous photo. “Officer David might not find this funny, but- basically we were taking a photo. We had him lay on a bench, and this kid came over and poured milk all over his face. He had to send the kid up to the principal’s office. I couldn’t stop laughing; I just thought it was so funny. I got the photo where there was milk on his face. That photo was so weird,” she said.

Next up: our web designers. They create the headers of the website and pick website colors so it looks nice and spiffy. “We can express our creativity,” said Sonia P. “Sometimes, the computer messes the header up, or we mess things up,” she lamented. Well, now you know who to thank for the looks of the Day Creek Howl!

The video makers are also a part of the journalism elective. This team of journalists write interesting facts… in the form of a video. “I love doing videos. My favorite video was probably the first one, the one for halloween. Watching the video come alive was really cool,” said Ava Rose Q. “My favorite part is probably picking the music,” she told us.

And then… *drumroll…*  the SODC interviewer! What exactly does SODC stand for? It stands for Students of Day Creek. The interviewer basically creates questions and interviews people out on campus to help us get to know each other better. “The best part of being a SODC writer is seeing how people act and what they say and who they truly are by their answers,” said Tiffany B. Woah, Tiffany…that was deep.

“I just look at whoever I think would be willing or just any random person I see. If I think they’ll give a good answer, I’ll just go up to them and ask them, “ Tiffany explains. “I always tell them that you don’t have to.”

If you think Mr. Gossage, our teacher, is in the room barking out orders, you couldn’t be more wrong. “I’m just a lowly adviser,” he explains all the time.

Demiana G., a writer in journalism, said that, “Mr. Gossage is a really cool teacher. I wouldn’t say that he lets you do what you want, but he gives you space.”

Mr. Gossage’s job as advisor includes making sure our articles are worthy of our website. He also gives the occasional talk that lasts for, you know, about five hours. Don’t worry, Mr. Gossage, we still love you.

Journalism, is well, not what you would expect. Sol A. describes journalism as, “Pigs eat spaghetti while eating a dog’s hair.”

Demiana G. clarifies that, “Journalism is crazy and weird, but we get stuff done, and it’s fun, and you get food.” Did you hear that? Food. Food conquers all.

To add, “Journalism is probably the best thing I’ve ever done in my academic career,” according to Jonas D. Of course it is, Jonas, considering that you’re only in middle school.

“If I’m being honest, I did not want to be a journalist. My mom forced me to become one, but I love it so much. I’m so glad she forced me to,” said Ava Rose Q.

If you think we are a bunch of geeks writing about community and worldly topics, you’re right. We love informing you guys on what is going on outside your own life (the world doesn’t revolve around you, Bob). But we aren’t totally nerdy, though. We still have fun. Sometimes, we even have parties! We even had a gingerbread house contest.

Jealous? You should be.

Everyone in journalism gets along. That is, until someone decides that eating tide pods is a good idea (IT’S NOT).

Since we have spent the whole year in the same room for about an hour every day, we have gotten closer to each other. “You kind of have a family there,” said Sol A.

Sydney R. also feels this way. “[I think the best part about Journalism is] the connection we all have,” she said. This is obvious, since some of us spend the weekend blowing up everyone’s phone with unnecessary discussions. We won’t name any names, but… *cough, Josh, cough*

All in all, journalism is unlike any other class; it’s amazing.