The Feather consistently sheds the spotlight on not only student events, but also local and national events. Starting next week, The Feather itself will be in the spotlight. To promote the importance of school publications, the Journalism Education Association (JEA) has sponsored the annual Scholastic Journalism Week, Feb. 21-27.

National Scholastic Journalism Week was created for the support of the First Amendment which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The association encourages student journalists to raise awareness of the benefits of journalism. The JEA has listed several ideas for how to participate in Scholastic Journalism Week, ranging from “Meet the Press” events to a simple follow of their Twitter account.

Throughout the week, The Feather will be participating by watching social media including Twitter and Instagram by creating the hashtags #FC16SJW, #SJW2016 and #featherbts which will appear in a Storify collection. The Feather will also be hosting class advisories and Fresno Bee writer Tad Weber who is planned to visit the campus on Monday.

Later in the week, look for a video from the Feather editors, articles outlining campus activities and a special Wednesday lunch which will promote the First Amendment and its Five Freedoms: Know all five and earn a piece of pizza; know all five and how the First Amendment relates to the theme and character struggles in the movie and stage musical, Newsies, and earn one ticket towards a drawing for a free Apple Watch (size and style may vary from link).

Responses from staff writers, alumni, students and teachers were documented in order to highlight the significance of journalism education not just nationwide, but locally. The Feather encourages students and readers to submit their opinions in the comment section on the importance of journalism. Please consider adding to or joining Scholastic Journalism Week 2016: Join the discussion and/or leaving comments on articles, photos, videos and slideshows.

Sports, sports, sports
Tyler Vanderlinden, ’17
February 25, 2016

“I don’t follow The Feather that much but when I do, I am checking out their social media accounts and sports updates. The reason I don’t spend more time on The Feather is because I’m quite busy and I don’t focus on the news that much. If The Feather posted more sports related things, such as football and basketball, I’d be more interested to read.”

Technology benefits freedoms
Morgan Miller, ’16
February 25, 2016

“The First Amendment allows us as a people to be able to discuss our opinions and beliefs openly without worry. It also allows us to voice our concerns for our country amongst one another. Thanks to social media, I believe it’s easier to exercise this right by constantly sharing events and beliefs worldwide.”

True grit
Jeremy Brown, superintendent
February 24, 2016

“I love that our students not only desire to tackle real issues in our school and society but that they do it largely on their own. Our Feather advisers do a wonderful job of developing a culture of thinking and responsibility. There have only been a couple of times that I have disagreed with something the The Feather has posted;  I expect that. I want there to be times where we don’t agree. If everybody thought the same and had the same point of view then why have freedom of speech or freedom of press?”

An editor’s opinion
Chloe Mueller, ‘16
February 24, 2016

“Scholastic Journalism Week changes the entire layout of our week at The Feather. It’s the week when we really make an extra effort to share the work we do with our peers. A huge thing I’ve learned during this week is the importance and the role of journalists; we must all do our part to keep our work accurate and unbiased.”

Catch up on categories
Austin Duffy, ’19
February 23, 2016

“Occasionally I get online and check out The Feather‘s website. I usually end up reading whatever is on the front page and I enjoy looking at the polls. However, it’s quite difficult to navigate on the website; I think it might need improvement on the categories.”

Athletic alumnus
Emily Schoettler, ’11
February 23, 2016

“When I was a student and volleyball player at Fresno Christian, I would always check my stats from volleyball games on The Feather and read what my teammates had to say at the end of each game. It was also fun to search your name or your fellow classmates’ names to see what articles or pictures you/they were featured in. The Feather has definitely taken advantage of the past technological advances in the past year by making an Instagram and Twitter account so it’s easier and more convenient to follow. That always seemed to be a problem when I was at FC and it’s great that they can reach to more audiences now.”

Appreciative viewer
Reece Brown, ‘19
February 22, 2016

“I have checked out The Feather a couple of times for certain stories. I appreciate the writers who took the time to come up with the stories and fact check them. I think The Feather‘s role in journalism is to help people know what they need to know and bring up things that will benefit them.”

All-around benefits
Brandon Brogan, ‘19
February 22, 2016

“I feel that having freedom of speech in press, part of the First Amendment in place is important because people should be able to say what they think and have their own thoughts and opinions on ideas. Personally, I don’t believe the American people are doing a good job at upholding the First Amendment currently. People speak their minds and say what they think is right and tend to get ridiculed for it in today’s politically correct society.

More movie reviews
Roman Endicott, ‘18
February 22, 2016

“I’m on The Feather usually once or twice a week just to see what’s going on around the school. It’s an important resource to have so people’s opinions can get out there and it’s open to anyone to comment on. I think The Feather is keeping up the great work, but I think it’d be cool to see more movie reviews on the website.”

All-around benefits
Julia Fikse, ‘19
February 22, 2016

“Having The Feather is important because it helps us exercise the first amendment. It also helps students become better writers. I think The Feather is a good way for us to know about the events going on in the world. Without The Feather students in our school would not have as many opportunities to be involved in events.”

Tell it like it is
Olivia Tandajaja, ’16
February 19, 2016

“I think it’s important for us to know exactly what is happening in the world today, especially matters happening within the country. The freedom of press allows us to tell and obtain unbiased truths. It serves almost like a neutral party which I think is crucial.”

Room for improvement
Damien Boyce, ’17
February 19, 2016

“I’m not a regular on The Feather. It takes too long for me to scroll through and find what I’m looking for and I don’t have the time for that. I would check it out more if it featured more things I’m interested in; for instance, I would like to see more sports-related articles and sports interviews.”

Doing good deeds
Courtney Messer, ’16
February 19, 2016

“I like having The Feather and other news sources available because it’s good to be connected to local and international news. The Feather provides quick and thorough updates of daily events. I believe The Feather is doing a great job at getting news out there.”

Raises community involvement
Phillip Christopher, ’17
February 17, 2016

 “I think the importance of journalism is to keep people informed, especially at Fresno Christian. The fact that the students can cover events happening at school raises involvement and unites the school. By being a staff member on The Feather, I am able to broaden my horizons through interviewing different kinds of people throughout the Valley. (Greg) Stobbe really pushed me to join journalism for the past two years, and I’m glad that he did because it’s paid off.”

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Prepared for the future
Justin Houts, ’16
February 17, 2016

“With all of my experience (5 years) on The Feather, I’ve been able to learn interviewing and people skills while traveling all over the place. It opens up a lot of doors outside of just journalism; for instance, I’ve learned discipline and meeting deadlines which I can apply to future careers. It’s also going to help me in my college English classes with all the writing skills I’ve developed over the years.”

Academic success
Nathan Mount, ’18
February 17, 2016   

“The reason why I joined The Feather was to become a better writer. The Feather not only helps you become a better writer, but also improves your work ethic and helps benefit other academic classes as well; it really motivates you. I decided to return this year because I felt I had more to learn from one of the best newspapers in the country.”

Staying informed
Julianna Rosik, ’16
February 17, 2016

“I check out articles on The Feather to catch up on the latest school events, or even local events. It’s also useful when showing my parents so that they can keep updated with the latest events. I think that’s what the main purpose of journalism is; keeping people up-to-date with what’s happening in the world so that we aren’t stuck in our own little bubbles.”

A new light shed
Andrea Donaghe, teacher
February 17, 2016

“The freedom of the press concept is freedom of speech guaranteed to the press; it allows us to express our opinions freely or not at all. Freedom of the press also protects us in the process of gathering and obtaining information for the public. After the Charlie Hebdo murders last year in Paris, it made me realize how important freedom of speech and press was and of the consequences.”

Educational experience
Trevor Trevino, ’17
February 17, 2016

“I appreciate The Feather for its interesting content. I’m able to learn more about my community and my student body through restaurant reviews and student profiles. I think having an online student publication is important because it gives a different viewpoint of how they see the school, the arts, music, sports, etc.”

FC Underground Fan
Suky Cheema, ’19
February 18, 2016

“To be honest, I really don’t check out The Feather that much. However, when I am on the website, I watch FC Underground; that’s pretty much it though. It’s easy to follow, since it’s two student hosts talking about weekly school events and they make it interesting. Personally, it’s more efficient for me to watch that than to scroll through the articles.”

Easy access
Julianna Lozano, ’18
February 5, 2016

“I visit The Feather every few weeks or so. I like to check out a lot of the media posts, like photos or articles that my friends or I might be included in. I really enjoy how The Feather’s website is set up; all the photos and articles are quite accessible for me.”

For more articles, read Join the Discussion: Eastern and Western perspectives or Scholastic Journalism Week 2015: Join the Discussion.

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @macyyvictoria and email: Macy Mascarenas.

Follow @scholasticJWeek, @JeaDigitalMedia, @NSPA  and @nhsjc on Twitter to stay updated on Scholastic Journalism Week.