Middle School Journalist of the Year:
Kayla Grenwis
Drake Middle School
A Bit About Myself
My name is Kayla Grenwis. I am an eighth grader at Drake Middle School in Arvada, Colorado. I am an honors student with a 4.0 GPA, and have a passion for journalism. During my time at Drake, I have been a part of all three journalism programs offered. In Yearbook, I have been on the staff for two years, and was given the position of Editor in Chief for this year’s book. Additionally, I am a talented video editor, script writer, and broadcast director for Broadcasting. Furthermore, I am a valued staff member of the Drake Scales and Tales Newspaper. I chose to apply for Journalist of the Year because I am capable, determined, and creative, as demonstrated through my journalistic work in middle school. I also value critique, and use it to improve my future work. But, more importantly, I recognize the effort, dedication, and support presented by the Yearbook staff and everyone around me. To even be considered for this award is validation for all of this hard work. I am truly honored by this opportunity, and look forward to receiving your feedback! Thank you!
photo by eliana dimanna
Writing Example - Theme Copy
I started writing the theme copy in early July of 2020. I made a list of everything that had been going on, and used it as inspiration to write the opening. Early February of 2021, our Walsworth representative, Andrew, came in to talk to Mrs. Wicke, our adviser, and said that I needed to submit both opening spreads and two dividers in two weeks. I hadn’t been planning to submit those until March, our final deadline. This clearly came as a shock, but through reworking nine different drafts, and with some much appreciated guidance and suggestions from Andrew and Mrs. Wicke, I finished the copy by the deadline. Turns out that I wasn’t able to stop writing! In my occasional moments of free time over the next month, I wrote the next several drafts of the other divider spreads. My goal was to make the theme copy seem like one cohesive story, and I believe I succeeded. This writing process taught me about voice in writing, which was completely different than the typical yearbook writing to which I was accustomed. It also boosted my self confidence by showing me that I am capable of doing quality work in a short amount of time. Although I didn’t think I was prepared for the assignment at first, I am so glad that I got to write this story. There is nothing I would change.
Writing Example - Snowmageddon Story
The Arvada snowstorm of March 2021 was literally record breaking, and I knew that would make for a great story. As soon as Mrs. Wicke started making spread assignments for the upcoming deadline, I had to snatch this byline. This is one of my favorite stories I’ve written this year because of how I introduced the story, but I had great quotes to begin with, so the words just flowed. As one of the other editors says, if you have the right quotes, the story writes itself. From this assignment, I learned how to communicate with others without talking. My partner was fully remote, but because we both did our work efficiently, the spread was completed. I am quite satisfied with my work and the story that was told.
Snowmageddon Spread
Writing Example - Bees Story
After studying Pulitzer Prize journalist Leonard Pitts’ style of writing in his Where’s Rey column, I was asked to choose a topic of interest to me, and write an opinionated column emulating his work. I used books and current articles as research to fully understand the danger of the disappearing bee populations in the world. Personally, journalism has been one of my favorite classes I’ve taken at Drake. This is because we have studied many different writing styles, I feel proficient in writing in different genres. My bees article is my personal favorite because it was completely my idea, and it was such a fascinating and important article to write. I knew a bit about the decrease in bee population, but I learned so much more through researching and writing this article. At the moment, there is nothing I would change about my piece.
Design Example - School Decisions Spread
This spread was my first assignment as Chief Editor. It was completed while students were still not fully in person, and half of the students quoted on the spread were learning fully from home. This assignment was a great lesson in communication due to all of the moving parts, and the amount of people I needed to stay in contact with to get everything on the page. If I were to do this assignment again, I would have made the dragon wings larger and put the information in the wings. However, I appreciate this piece because it shows me my growth as a designer.
Design Example - Pivot and Flex Spread
This spread wasn’t originally assigned to me, but after I saw that there was nothing on the page shortly before deadline, I took it on. I wrote the story, the mods, and the captions. I am really happy with what I was able to accomplish, and I don't think I would do anything differently if I were to do it again. This page taught me that, even if something isn’t my responsibility, it still needs to be done.
Design Example - Closing Theme Copy
When I first started writing the theme copy, I would have Mrs. Wicke approve what I wrote, then have her put it on the page. I never felt like I had that much of an eye for design, so I avoided those tasks at all costs. But, by the final deadline, I was arranging the words myself. I am especially proud of my work on the closing, since I know how many revisions were made to get to the final version. If I were to do this assignment again, I would want to take on the design assignments earlier to prove to myself that I am capable. Through designing these pages, I learned to trust myself and my work.
Photography Example - Football Action Shot
On a cold, foggy day, I stayed after school to take pictures of the school football team for the sports spread. My shutter never stopped moving as the players started zipping around the field. This is the picture we chose for the page. I like this shot because it really emphasizes the movement of the player. Next time, I would try to get closer to the player so the photo is even clearer.
Drake Sports Spread
Photography Example - Clocks Photo
This was my favorite day in Yearbook. Since our deadline was about a week away, I was having lunch with Mrs. Wicke, Kyra (the academics editor), and my friend Palmer, who just wanted to join. Mrs. Wicke had an idea for our spread covering passing periods, where I would get a photo of someone holding a clock. Palmer took Mrs. Wicke’s clock off the wall. Then inspiration struck! I wondered what it would look like if there were multiple clocks in the picture. We ended up borrowing clocks from nearly every teacher in the eighth grade wing for this shot, and I think it turned out amazing. Now here’s the funny part: as shown in the photo, the clocks automatically reset to noon when we took them off the wall. We tried very hard to fix the clocks when we put them back, but it has already become a school joke that the Yearbook staff broke all of the clocks in the eighth grade wing (again, I’m so sorry!). Next time, I would identify the subject of the photo - and not break the clocks!
Clocks Photo
Broadcast Video Example - NJHS Toy Drive
I was assigned to make the promotional videos for the NJHS Toy Drive because I had previous video editing experience from being in Broadcasting. With approval from the NJHS President, I wrote the script, then assigned it to the members. Since all students were learning from home at the time, I used the clips they sent me to make the video instead of filming them at school. This different way of getting video responses was definitely a big change, but I liked it because the audio is better when the kids are filming themselves from home. I am content with my work because I know how much collaboration went into producing this clip. Next time, I would ask more people to submit videos to me to include more people, but given the circumstances, it was the best possible result.
Broadcast Video Example - Yearbook Sales Advertisement
While students were still only coming to school for part of the week, I signed up to make a sales ad to sell yearbooks. I noticed that we hadn’t been selling as many books as we had in past years, so I volunteered to help fix that. Especially during the pandemic, it was essential that students and staff had a way to remember this year. To get the necessary clips for making the video, I worked with another editor that came to school on a different day than me, so we were never really able to talk about the video. Instead, I texted her nearly every day to check in to see that progress was being made. After two weeks of interviewing students, I chose the best responses for the final video. I really like how it turned out, even despite the pandemic’s obstacles. Next time, I would ask the students if they felt comfortable being interviewed without their mask so the audio would be clearer for better audience engagement.
Teacher Recommendations
Again, I thank everyone who has assisted me with these projects! I couldn’t have done it without their help!
photo by kgrenwis
photo by kgrenwis
photo by kgrenwis
photo by kgrenwis
photo by lily hardy
The Importance and Benefit of Middle School Journalism
I am thrilled to discuss my thoughts on the importance of middle school journalism, as it has so positively impacted my life. Please follow the link to see my essay.
photo by andrew ross