Tales of improvement

BLHS Beaver Tales students garner six awards from YSU Press Day

By DAVID M. GRIMES (dgrimes@reviewonline.com)
Rebecca Smith, co-sports editor of the Beaver Tales student newspaper, is not shy and definitely not hesitant to tell anyone what she thinks about their now, award-winning paper.

“We’re great,” Smith says proudly with a big smile. “We’re the best.”

Smith and the 23 other students who work on the Beaver Tales, Beaver Local’s High School student newspaper, have good reason to feel good about their paper that they work so hard on throughout the year.

At the end of April, at Youngstown State University’s Press Day, Advisor Erica Flowers and her staff of students from grades 9 through 12, brought home six awards to the district. And ultimately, none of Flowers’ students left empty-handed. The annual press day event brought over 400 students from more than a dozen area high schools.

Flowers was awarded “Advisor of the Year” while Alyvia Blankenship, Dezahrae Bostick, Tabitha Boyd and Shaina Hedrick each earned individual honors.

Blankenship, sophomore, won honorable mention in the features article category. Hedrick, junior, was able to grab second place for sports photography while Bostick, senior, was awarded third place for front page layout and design. Boyd, a senior, won first place for the on-site news category.

And it was the “Most Improved Newspaper Award” that brought excitement and justification for the all the hard work and extra, after-school hours during a hectic year full of school closings.

“It was really exciting for us to win something after putting in hard work,” Shannon Wells, junior news editor, said.

This year’s staff found out first-hand that it takes a group effort, from everyone in the class, to put out a quality product.

Mandy Walters and Bostick, co-editors-in-chief, said this year’s class had better cooperation and they saw great effort from everyone in the class, whether a person was a first-year or fourth-year student.

“For being new, they were really good,” Walters said of the students who just joined the class this year.

Sami Staggers, a senior who has been in the class for all four years, agreed with her editors and said she saw improvements, especially this year.

“We keep getting better. We’ve come so far,” Staggers said, noting first-hand that she has come a long way since her first report card four years ago. Staggers went from a first-nine weeks failing grade, four years ago to being photography editor. She said, at first, she was not interested in the class, but soon turned her grades around and has enjoyed her experiences throughout the years. She now wants to continue her love for writing to Kent State University and attend their journalism program.

Comparing last year’s issue to this year’s editions, a reader can see many changes, which the class believes is for the better.

In previous years, the newspaper was printed on regular 8.5x11 paper, similar to the style people would find using their desktop printers. The stories were shorter, usually only a paragraph or two, and issues ran on four pages, front and back. The format was more of magazine-style and was bound together by staples on the binding.

This year, the class decided to switch formats.

They first chose to ditch the printer paper and run the news stories on newsprint. They also wanted the Beaver Tales to appear more like a newspaper so they increased the size of the pages as well. One page now is 17 inches long instead of eight and a half inches. The stories are longer and try to cover more interesting topics too.

Features editor Sara Shallcross, junior, really enjoyed the addition of the back page section of the newspaper that showcased stories on recycling, music, a battle of classes photo collage and a Paige DeSarro tribute piece.

Staggers noted that they have seen the results pay off at the school as well as she has seen a lot more support from students this year. She said sales of the newspaper are up more this year too.

Bostick has also heard more positive feedback this year, noting she has seen some students and teachers buying a paper this year for the first time.

The class, though, gives credit to their advisor who has helped them accomplish their goals and has been there for them even outside of school hours.

“She’s amazing,” co-sports editor Marissa Newbauer, junior, said of Flowers. “She helps the class in and out of class.”

Walters also had high praise for Flowers, who believes the advisor deserves a lot of the credit for the improvements.

“If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t get much done,” Walters said, noting the advisor’s strength of organizing and helping the class when they need it. “She’s an advisor, a teacher and a friend. In and out of the class, she’s there.”

Flowers has had the ability to turn non-interested kids to journalism as noted by junior Alan Bowdler who first signed up for the class because “it was the only class that fit [his] schedule.”

But Bowdler, who wrote one of the three essays that nominated Flowers for advisor of the year, penned, “She made me realize that writing can be fun, interesting and rewarding. My grades have since reflected this in all subjects, thanks to her.”

Another student, junior Amanda Brown, mentioned she thought about taking another class this year because she did not enjoy the small class or experiences as much last year. But after a couple weeks into the school year, Brown changed her mind and added the class. In her essay, she wrote, “This year, I don’t believe the paper has ever been so good. I am proud to be a part of our newspaper staff and Mrs. Flowers has everything to [do] with that.”

Flowers reciprocates the praise though. To her, it’s the students who make the paper what it is today.

“To have a great paper, you need students who live and breathe it,” the advisor said. This year, Flowers said she has seen that enthusiasm and that passion from many of her students.

The students are now feverishly working on the their last edition of the year – the senior edition. The issue will be released at graduation on June 8. For the seniors it will mark their last issue for the Beaver Tales. For the freshmen, sophomores and juniors, it will be the last issue until they try to continue the improvements next year.

Whether students are leaving for college or coming back for another year of journalism, they each hold a memory of the year that they helped turn the newspaper around. And that’s a tale that can be proudly told.