Electives in high school  are very important and can really make a difference in your experience.  ILS offers many fun electives, one of them being journalism. After 15 years living in Nicaragua,I moved to Miami sophomore year and followed my gut to join the journalism elective out of all the other ones available. Now, I’ve been in journalism for three years. I was a writer my sophomore year, a writing editor my junior year and became Editor in Chief my senior year. It helped me become a leader and a participating member of the ILS community.  The journalism class takes care of the school newspaper, making sure to write stories, interview ILS members and use the media to share topics that are important to our community.

“I transferred into ILS in the middle of sophomore year and chose journalism because I was taking it at my old school. My old school didn’t even have a newspaper and it was just about writing stories. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I could use my voice in topics I found important and share my ideas within my community,” said senior Ana Sophia Castillo.

It is the perfect way to connect with others and it allowed me personally to break out of my shell. I was able to cultivate writing skills that would prove to be very handy during the college application process as well as in every English class. I grew close bonds with various teachers, faculty members, and students  that I interviewed and helped include their voice. 

“It gave me the opportunity to win many awards and be even nationally recognized by organizations. We also started the first newspaper instagram (@ilsroyalcourier), which gave me the chance to experience working with social media and develop marketing skills,” said senior Jadilah Fernández.

So what does a journalism student do on a regular day?

As a part of the Editorial Board, you show up to class and and meet with the other members who then help create story ideas. We also draft and post as much content as possible and come up with new ways to maximize engagement. We mentor the writers and manage the site itself. We come up with outreach activities and ways to improve both our leadership and the published work. We also spend a lot of time working on SNO badges (Student Newspapers Online) which are awards that give us national recognition. In 2023, we managed to earn three out of six badges which put us on the list of top school newspapers in the country.

“The badges are very complex and hard to achieve. It takes a lot of group effort and collaboration with the writers. We would submit qualified work almost every day and the SNO platform would give us lots of feedback until one day we finally reached 100% and everything was worth it.”

This school year we already have one badge and are quickly getting closer to achieving more of them. As there are six in total and we earned three last year for the first time in the history of the Royal Courier, our goal this year is to earn at least four.

Personally, the class has also allowed me to innovate, create new things, and break walls that no one ever had. My fellow Co-Editor-in-Chief Ana Sophia,  and I, created the school’s first podcast,(@VayaConDios) where we interview students, faculty, and teachers as a way to foster a more united environment at school.

“Being able to talk to people from other grades and get their opinions on certain topics was new to me, but after a while, I got the hang of it and I began growing more and more confident with my skills as an interviewer as well as a writer. Plus, I get to talk about things I’m interested in and get it published which is so useful for my future. If I could go back, I’d choose this elective again a million times over,” said senior writer Aubree Arango. 

As a writer, you receive a long list of story ideas once a week for which you pick the one you would like to write about. There are many times where they are also allowed to write what they choose or even be able to skip a week because of their hard work. Without the writers, we wouldn’t have the amazing newspaper we have today.

“I was a writer for two years and tt was fun to interview people because it made me feel like a professional journalist. We experience special privileges, field trips, and guest speakers that truly have taught me things I’ll take with me to college,” said senior Hannah Brewster. 

Overall, the journalism class is enjoyed by not only the members but those who continuously read and engage in the content. On the first day of class, my sophomore year, our adviser, Ms. Cristina Ramirez displayed a quote which I now carry with me everyday and I hope is one that will impact others: “The job of a newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” 

The newspaper starts a conversation and allows the school to grow stronger both externally and internally. I can truly say it was the best decision I made.