SCCS Media Writing 2011: Suggested Story Ideas

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Suggested Story Ideas

The following are suggested ideas for stories we would “cover” for the school website, all (or most) requested by webmaster Alex Adachi. You can sign up for any one of them to do either by yourself, or as part of a two-person “team.” Nor are the possibilities limited to this list. You can come up with your own ideas. The only limit is that the subject should be one that is of interest to the school community (students, teachers, parents).

MAP Testing -- This year the school switched from the Iowa Tests of Achievememnt to MAP Testing, which is done on computers and is underway now. The story would explain the reasons for the switch, and what parents, students, and teachers can expect from the new program. Ms. Silke Schöler is the person in charge.

Prize Winning Elementary and Middle School Art -- The Elementary and Middle School art programs have compiled an impressive list of prizes in national and international contests over the past three years. Ms Lavintman is the contact person and I have a list of the hours when she is avalable.

Game Attendance -- STUCO has various activities for this school year. One of them is to try to boost attendance at sports events. This would make a good piece. The officers of STUCO would be our best sources. Possibly also Dean Davis. School Play -- Elementary has a play due

Iin October. Mrs. Rykowsky is the teacher to contact. Her e-mail is paterykow@hotmail.com.

Extra-Curricular Clubs like Gamers Club, the Recycling Club, Movie Club, etc. could each be a story on what takes place after school. The movie club would be particularly interesting in view of their recent field trip to meet with the director of a new movie about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Two '11s on school staff - Two members of last year's senior class, who have delayed their entrance into college, have been hired by the administration to work at the school. Mateus de Carvalho is helping Analia Mostert wih her programs to help kids with reading problems (I think). Rainer Netzlaff is working in the information technology department.

Tues., Nov. 7

Our goal for tomorrow will be finish one of the two ads. I have not gotten everyone´s "Message", which I want to approve before you put together the final version. If you have it completed tonight, please send it to me. It will save us a lot of time tomorrow.

In the discusssion I had with one group I realized that the tourist ad provides one of the best opportunities to use "terstimonials" from people for much of, or even all, the "source" for your "message. " Such testimonials are easily available for most places by going to one of the travel service websites like tripadvisor.com. (There are others. Expedia is one. You can usually find them by googling the site.

If you have visited the place, you could write a testimonial. This could be the most effective way of talking about it. Describe your visit.

Tues., Nov. 1

First of all a reminder that all restaurant ads are due at the beginning of class tomorrow, Tuesday.

The rest of the class will be devoted to discussing and then working on the ads for Santa Cruz Economic Development and Bolivia Tourism. I hope everyone will be ready to begin in a prompt and efficient manner, and that you have decided, for one thing, if you will work alone or with a partner. I will have examples of ads to look at and some reference books.

You must have at least one ad finished and handed in Wednesday, Nov. 9, the day of departure for the Friendship Games. This should be easy if you use your time well.

Attached to this e-mail are several documents sent to me by CAINCO with facts about economic development in Santa Cruz. THIS IS MUCH MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REALLY NEED. This means that you will be in the same position that real advertising researchers (and reporters) are in. Sorting through lots of information to find what you want and need.

I have also attached an example of an Economic Development ad that I knocked out to give you an idea of what I have in mind. I will also have copies of it in class.

Monday, Oct. 17

Discusssion of "All the President's Men." David Boldt will also discuss other aspects of his 40-year journalistic career at The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Philadelphia Inquirer. His theme: "How I Lived Through the Supernova Phase of American Journalism and Escaped to Bolivia Before the White Dwarf Phase Got Fully Underway."

If time permits we will begin our unit on "Writing for Advertising." The first project will be to invent a restaurant and design an ad for it. Later we will do ads for Bolivian Tourist attractions, and, finally, an ad for Santa Cruz Cooperative School. In the final phase of the course (after Friendship Games) we will divide into teams that will prepare public relations campaigns to clean up Santa Cruz. They will be presented to an independent panel who will select a winner.

Thurs., Sept. 29

Individual assignments. If you do not have an assignment to work on, you should get your personal weblog in shape for inspection starting next Monday. If you have completed that, you should do the worksheets on the "5Ws and an H" opening. You need to complete these by the end of the first quarter, which is Oct. 7. I will also be asking if anyone wants to cover any of the games between SCCSW and International at International next week, when there will be some real showdowns. I also need help covering the Christian Learning-Cambridge games, which will be played at SCCS next week, and should be pretty interesting games. There are only two weeks left in the sports season, plus the playoffs. (I´m not counting the Friendship Games.) Those of you who have had two or fewer assignments should plan to cover at least one more game in the regular season to keep your portfolio "competitive" for the semester. (There will be a second review before the end of the semester in December.)

Wednesday, Sept. 7

Again there is no specific assignment for the entire class, but there will be an introduction of a new "block" on "feature writing." If you had a game assignment Tuesday you will have time to write it in class, or, if you completed it outside of class, time to study for other classes. However, at the beginning of the class you will receive assignments for "feature" stories for the website, and we will discuss briefly how to write them. (Basically, they are the same as sports stories except that there is more latitude, or flexibility.)

Monday, Sept. 5

There is no specific assignment for the entire class provided that you have all completed your profiles of the lower school teachers. (Nicolas Aguirre, Fernando Monasterio -- You are the only ones I don't believe I have heard from on this.)

We are going to review our sports coverage schedule in view of the new conflicts that have emerged, and go over some fine points on the sports stories, then most of the rest of the class period will be devoted to cleaning up loose ends on the teacher profiles. Nicolas Handal and Lucia Landivar, who completed their sports assignments on time last Thursday afternoon, are entitled to most of the period as a study hall. Also Ximena Fagan, although I need that picture of Julio Muñoz, Ximena. Please either send it to me or have it with you. Looking ahead, Wednesday's class will provide writing time for students covering Tuesday afternoon games, and sentence rewriting practice for the other group. The same pattern will be in effect for Friday for students covering Thursday afternoon games.

Assignment for Mon., Aug. 29

There will be a test on Monday that will involve, once again, writing a practice game story from a list of given facts. You should prepare for this by re-reading the "solutions" to the two previous practice game stories, both of which are now posted on boldt41.blogspot.com, as well as "How to Write a Sports Story" and how to construct a "Five Ws and an H" lead, or opening, which are in the same place. The test will ask you to construct a "5Ws and an H" lead for the story, and then arrange the rest of the material in a highlights section, followed by "the story" of the game. Just the same old stuff that we have been talking about for the past week. You will also get back your soccer practice stories before the test to review.

The test will take no more than 40 minutes, after which we will finish the "package" of profiles of the new lower school teachers. (The upper school teacher profiles are done, and have been sent to Bil McKelligott to see if he wants them on the school website. If he approves, they will go to Alex Adachi to be posted on the website.

I think they came out well, and have high hopes that they will be offered to the school community. You will also get your grades on them this week.

We will also straighten out anything that needs straightening out regarding coverage of the games this week.

Assignment for Fri., Aug. 19

1. If you didn't finish "New Teacher" bio in class, finish it and send it in.

2. If you have an incomplete photo assignment, complete it by Wednesday.

3. NEW ASSIGNMENTS. Most of you will have a new assignment, either a second teacher interview or a sports preview. If you are doing a second teacher the instructioins are the same as for the first. If you are doing a sports preview the instructions are as follows:

The previews are memos you are providing to be put into a longer story by someone else. They are very simple. Just answer the following questions:

* Generally speaking, what are the prospects for the team this year? Better than last year? Worse? Somewhere in the middle? You should talk to the coach, but you can get the information from players or Mr. Ludueña. (Practice times and coaches' names are in the column on the left.) Try to get a good quote.

* Which important players from last year have graduated, or moved, or are otherwise out of the picture this year?

* Who are the important players who remain from last year, or are new to the school, or are “coming up” from last year’s junior varsity?

* Who is the coach, and, if he or she is new, where did they coach before?

That’s all. Four simple questions. Varsity only. 300-400 words. (Or maybe a little more.)

Assignment for Mon. Aug. 15

1. Interview your assigned new teacher of staff member obtaining all of the required information covered in class. Be prepared to write a 300- to 500- word bio in class following discussion of how to write an interview or "profile."

2. Make sure your blog is working and up to date with the profile you wrote posted (with a headline), and the profile written about you as a text "gadget" under a headline that says "About me . . . ," or something to that effect. Put the by-line of the person who wrote in at the end in italics, flush right. (I´ll explain.) If you want put a picture of yourself in a picture "gadget" right above the bio. (See my blog for an example.) Fill in the header. restrict access if you want to.

Assignment for Thurs., Aug. 11

1. Create a blog on blogger.com. If you do not already use gmail, you will need to open an account. Send a message to boldt27@gmail.com to give David Boldt the e-mail address you want to use for correspondence pertaining to this course. course.

2. Make a record of your blog's URL (so that you can find it again) and send a message to David Boldt giving him your blog address (URL). Use settings>permissions to define who may comment on your blog. BE SURE TO GIVE ME PERMISSION. Don't give anyone else the power to edit it. The e-mail addresses will be posted on the board, or sent to you by e-mail.

3. Interview another member of the class and write a 200-300 word biography of that person as a Word document, giving the basic facts and some interesting details, as discussed in class. (You will be assigned a person.) Add your by-line at the end as one line, italics, flush right. Send the finished profile to me as an attachent to a message. I will send a corrected copy to you and the person you interviewed. You should cut and paste your copy of the corrected text as a "new post" on your blog. The person you wrote about should post your interview, with your by-line, on his or her blog as a "text gadget" under the headline "About Me . . . ," or words to that effect. He or she should also post a picture above it as a picture gadget. The interviewee may also make changes as needed to be sure the bio is accurate and fair, at least as far as he or she sees things.

About Me

David Boldt was born at a very early age in New York City shortly before the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor (although the events were not otherwise connected). He spent a largely uneventful childhood in the suburbs of New York located in the state of Connecticut, where he graduated from St. Luke’s School for Boys, a small private school (yes, even smaller than SCCS) located in New Canaan, Conn. He later graduated from Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H., in 1964 “with distinction in the major field of history.”

He immediately went to work for The Wall Street Journal in New York, and later, Los Angeles. He spent four years with the Journal, sandwiched around two years with the US Army Signal Corps stationed in Tehran, Iran, an experience that would later prove important to him in his journalistic career. He switched from the Journal to The Washington Post in 1968, and spent four years there, mainly covering the US Congress He was there during the time the Post broke open in the Watergate scandal, and actually sat at the desk next to Carl Bernstein, one of the principal authors of that investigation.

Boldt moved next to The Philadelphia Inquirer, which was then experiencing a renaissance under editor Eugene Roberts, who is quoted frequently in your textbook. During his thirty years at The Inquirer he was a member of a reporting team that won the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting for covering the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. The Inquirer took advantage of Boldt’s knowledge of Iran by sending him to cover the Islamic Revolution there in 1979, for which he received a special citation from the Overseas Press Club.

He edited the Inquirer Sunday Magazine from 1976 to 1986, during which time stories and photographs in the Magazine won three Pulitzer Prizes. Subsequent to that he was editor of the editorial page at The Inquirer and an Op-Ed columnist, winning awards in both assignments. He retired in 2000 and moved to Bolivia, where he has not been heard of since, though it is rumored that he teaches English and media writing there at the Santa Cruz Cooperative School.

Boldt has been married to the former Kelly Clark for over 20 years, and they have a daughter, Julia, 14. Boldt’s first wife, Fereshteh, died in 1989. His son from that marriage, Thomas, lives in Los Angeles with his wife Alanna, where he practices traditional Chinese medicine. For amusement Boldt enjoys swimming, horseback riding, tennis, travel, and reading, among other activities. He tried to learn how to play the guitar, but failed. Boldt both bats and throws right-handed.