Lights, action, RAWR! Salem Middle School has been making a bang with an increasingly interactive school environment. Students are getting the chance to be in more clubs and have more real-life experiences. One club taking the stand is the student-run news system known as Cubs News.
Cubs News is a SMS news program that has been around for more than 20 years and is currently under the direction of journalism teacher Monika Spaulding. Students are able to take the lead and get to show SMS from their own point of view.
Spaulding became Cubs News's advisor after Lisa Nice, the previous advisor, was transferred to the high school, and with Spaulding’s background in journalism, principal Kevin Albertson thought she’d be a wonderful fit.
Spaulding was eager to take the role, and stated she knew it was going to be challenging, especially with keeping the children on tasks and motivated. Cubs News is a club, not a class, so the students have to work on it outside of the normal school day.
Spaulding was also a part of Cubs News as a middle schooler and appreciates how the club provides a real-world experience for the students, and prepares them for future jobs.
“It provides a job-like environment, because they work on it outside of school and get to have real-world experiences,” she said.
While her experience is more with writing and photography, filming and editing a show was new to Spaulding. She said high school media teacher JD Wade-Swift has provided new equipment and helped with technical problems and errors. He continues to be a big help to Cubs News every day. He teaches the high-school equivalent of Cubs News: The Salem Lions News Network.
There are multiple positions in the Cubs News newsroom, such as: roving reporters, news anchor(s), camera, editing, script writing, weather reporters and the sports anchor. Each position has its own elements and contributes largely to the success of Cubs News.
The club’s roving reporters are 7th grader Abby Spaulding, and 8th grader Cole Roberts. This is considered the “interviewer” position of Cubs News. Students are able to interview, take photos, and learn information about clubs, teachers, or events, which is given to other members of Cubs News, and the script writers format the information being told.
The script writers are in charge of writing the given information in a way the news anchors can actively report on screen. Scripts are written in a A,B,A,B format, with each anchor’s first initial at the beginning of their line. Scripts are often reviewed by other team members, and are written whenever the students are available. Script writers flip through the script, often on Google Slides, that is projected on a TV screen the news anchors read off. Timothy Pate, an 8th grader, is one of the script writers. Pate works on graphics, projecting them accordingly on the screen, and Abby Elliot is the main script writer.
Anchors, Zakry Gibbs and Jordan Pham, went into depth on how Cubs News has helped them learn how to work behind the scenes and how to perform and enjoy themselves.
“Cubs News has improved my speech tremendously,” said Pham.
News anchors may be reporting events, lunch menus, or even just giving some positive advice to the student body.
Weather reporters report on projected and current weather, including expected rain, snow, heat, or freezing temperatures. Weather reporters sit at a desk with a projected window of the news forecast in the corner.
Luke Baldwin, the Cubs’ sports anchor, reports on past, current, and expected sports events. He sits at a desk and reports to the camera on game results, playoffs, expected games, and the overall score of big games across the nation.
Previous Cubs News members Zander Bowling and Sydney Burton, were excited to see how much the club has evolved, commenting on how fun it was then, and how much the students will enjoy it now.
“I’m glad they get the chance to evolve and learn in a fun and exciting way,'' said Bowling.
This year's news crew includes: Luke Baldwin, Aubrielle Bowman, Abagale Elliott, Cynthia Elliott, Jocelyn Elrod, Zakry Gibbs, Delana Nolan, Hailee Pate, Caroline Preston, Cole Roberts, Madison Setser, Addyson Smith and Abby Spaulding.
