Click through pictures for link to the articles!
Click through pictures for link to the articles!
Click through pictures for link to the articles!
Click through pictures for link to the articles!
Reporting & Writing
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Local News I Budget Coverage
This message to the right, from a Westford resident, lives in the back of my mind with every news article I write, especially when covering local news. The responsibility of being one of two news publications within our town is a big one, especially as we hold the unique power of expressing student perspective. With our town's budget crisis last year, our local coverage increased exponentially, as did the depth of our fact-checking, sourcing, and coverage. Looking back, I am so proud of our ability, even as student journalists, to stay involved in local politics, ask big questions, and play our role in informing the wider community. I covered and edited various articles related to town news, breaking down the complex nuances of the budget deficits and learning so much in the process. With every article I write and every article I edit, I hope to uphold this reputation and keep local journalism thriving.
Although I wrote this two years ago, it is one of my favorite pieces to date, in part because nearly every step of the process was filled with "firsts" for me. It was one of my first opinion articles, my first time approaching town politics, my first on-the-spot interviews, and the first time I saw my writing bring forth real conversation and impact.
Looking back, there are inevitably a bunch of things I would have changed both in the writing style and content. Although I was happy with the final message, I do wish I had written a bit more concisely and left room for a few longer teacher/WEA interviews outside of the town meeting. This would help better understand their experiences, share in-depth why the school committee struggled to finance salary increase, and help offer a counterargument.
01
“Above average results, below average pay;” why our educators deserve better
I stumbled upon this topic when I had accompanied Sophia, the editor-in-chief at the time, to cover an annual town meeting live on our social media. What we soon found was that the real news was happening outside of the building itself. Dozens of our teachers were gathered, holding signs and microphones, advocating for better pay.
I shifted gears to cover this on social media, conducting on-the-spot interviews with teachers and even the Westford Educators Association president. Inspired by this experience, I felt compelled to research this issue further and realized that it wasn't just Westford teachers, but a national crisis. I ended up writing an impassioned opinion that helped share this perspective and advocate for educators. To my surprise, this resulted in thankful responses and even the questions from curious friends. In addition to learning how to think on my feet as a journalist, It was through this experience that I realized covering town news isn’t just a section of our newspaper; it’s a necessity that serves the community.
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02
Westford faces $6-8 million deficit; cuts to school and town services possible
This was the first of many (MANY) articles our publication would go on to write about the dire budget deficits our town faced last year. For my co-writer, Saanvi, and I, it was especially after we read a graphic made by the town and weren't able to grasp the severity of the deficit that we realized how it important it would be to accurately inform both students and community members. We also realized, that with so many unfamiliar finance/town terms and processes, it would be integral to do this in a way that was understandable for the average person - and this started with understanding it all ourselves first. With this, we spent weeks researching town documents, watching school-committee, select board, and finance meetings, and an ultimate three-hour interview with a member of the school committee. I also separately had another two-hour interview, this time with the Select-Board Chair and Town Manager. No matter how "dumb" or "simple" our questions may have sounded, we took it upon ourselves to ask and be curious. I am super proud of this article as a culmination of our research and depth, but also for setting an example for coverage to come.
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03
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Select Board hears budget presentation, approves reduced speed limit during 12/12 meeting
In hindsight, a more accurate headline for this news article would have been something along the lines of "Gigantic Budget Breakdown," as most of the article focuses on this, rather than the speed limit policy. After attending the hours-long meeting, I went over the details of two outlined scenarios for the town (one, in the event of a budget override, and the other without), the teacher cuts and impacts associated with them, the reasoning behind each point, and resident opinions.This was the first budget hearing of many to come with a lot of updates from my last budget article. Sorting through all of the statistics and points shared at the three-hour meeting was definitely no easy feat, but I am happy with how (mostly) accessible the article is.
04
Support students of Westford: pass the override
My co-EIC, Elitsa, and I wrote this staff editorial together as a culmination of all our budget coverage that spring. After months of writing news articles and having to stay unbiased in reporting, it was both difficult and extremely rewarding to express our thoughts on this extremely emotional and consequential decision. Without an override, the budget deficit threatened teacher jobs, and support services for hundreds of students, everyone from elementary and high school. On a personal level, it would also mean that we lose one of the advisors of our newspaper and possibly the journalism elective as a whole. It took us a few tries to make sure our voice shined through, even while still incorporating factual information into the article, but after revising with the whole staff, it was most definitely worth it. I am so so so proud of both of us for writing this article because it stood up for students in a way the town didn't. Despite the override ultimately failing, I am glad we used our platform to take a stance and at minimum, inspired voters to consider a new perspective.
Looking back, I'm also proud of making that collage featured image :)
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05
Overcoming uncertainty: how WA clubs are adapting to budget cuts
This feature outlined in-depth the impacts of the ultimate override failure on student clubs & activities. With Westford being a town that places such emphasis on student success, both outside and inside of the classroom, I felt it important to uncover the in-school perspective of how budget cuts were actually affecting students. While interviewing and researching for this article, I learned that a lot of the stress came from the various FTE cuts, resulting in losing teachers, many of whom were experienced advisors for clubs. In addition to this, finding new teacher advisors, in the midst of increased class sizes and teacher workloads, made the process more challenging. To spotlight these stories, I worked to incorporate different forms of multimedia, such as soundbytes with club members, an interactive statistic-quiz, and multiple pictures.
06
A student’s guide to Annual Town Meeting
Written before the town meeting, I took on this piece in an effort to demystify the town's politics and processes t for students. Covering the budget so deeply had shown me the importance of being involved and educated on local politics. I wanted to make it more accessible for students and adults who don't necessarily have the same amount of time to dedicate to this. With graphics and an interview with the former town moderator, I outlined key terms and some general procedures, including the unique process behind speaking up during the meeting for students (which was surprisingly more complicated than I had expected). Ultimately, I wish I had made the article more concise and a bit less informal to achieve the goal, but I think it was still a good start.
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And some more...
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Features
Although I am definitely biased, having been features editors my sophomore year, they are, in my opinion, the best kind of article. While news is somewhat more formulaic, straight to the point, and and often referred to as "more important," I love features because they are the exact opposite. They give me a chance to the tell the stories of our community that would otherwise go untold and have the power to both inform and unite us in human experience. The reporting process similarly fascinates me because feature stories are rooted in thorough interviews, though they often feel more like conversations. Seeing the light in a source's eyes when they describe something they are passionate about, for example, and getting to ask more, is what drives me to tell their story to the best of my ability.
01
This was a feature on our theater program's production of "Disgraced." It was a heavy play with many sensitive themes like domestic violence and antisemitism. Despite this, I loved the process of uncovering the meaning behind the play for the cast and their experiences, along with their intended impact.
02
Quan to bring enthusiasm to UMass Amherst
Ever since I joined the newspaper and discovered the power in being intentional about the stories we told, I've tried my best to uplift voices that are often underrepresented. With this specific undertaking, I hoped to help share Alan's story as a visually impaired student. With a cane in hand, many people in the school building knew of Alan and his friendly character - however, they didn't know much about him - and that was what I wanted to change. However, rather than focusing simply on his disability, I made it my mission to ask about his hobbies, interests, and achievements. My originally planned interview of 30 minutes with him ultimately expanded to over an hour and I learned SO much about him; from having a fervent passion for public transportation (and even creating a YouTube channel detailing his experience with different forms of it as a blind/visually-impaired person) to his enthusiasm for research. Although the story itself did end up including a lot of different details for how his experience as a visually impaired person influenced his educational journey, the reporting process for this story was one of my favorite because, quite simply, I enjoyed learning more about his interests and could thoroughly feel his enthusiasm in everything he discussed.
03
Twomey takes on gardening, initiates sustainability conversation
I loved writing this article. From learning more about our principal and his gardening interests to exploring the school's sustainability goals, it was super interesting and (I felt) important to share with the school. It was through this article that I also interviewed the cafeteria food manager, as some of the produce grown in the garden was being incorporated into student lunches. Although most of this didn't make it into the article, I learned a lot about the process and hard work behind infamous school lunches and am now looking to write a more in-depth story on it. I also loved taking photos of the garden and students as they helped Twomey and fostered connections.
04
This was an extremely fun article to write as I was able to explore the nuances of Latin American music, especially as there is not a large Latino population here in Westford. I attended their first meeting and that helped me fully immerse myself into the article along with adding visual elements. The experience of reporting on this article really reminded me why I love feature writing; it's a chance to immerse yourself in a piece of the community around you and share it.
And some more I'd love for you to check out...
Opinions
Over the years, I've grown to love opinions because they exemplify one of the main pillars of student journalism: sharing our voices. whether it be an editorial about a town-wide override, an opinion about teacher salaries, or even a commentary on the growth of AI, I love feeling empowered to offer a different perspective into the community.
01
Social media is exploiting your insecurities for profit
Personally, this opinion had been brewing for a while as I had noticed toxic social media tendencies being translated to everyday life at the high school. Whether it be the pressure to constantly keep up with expensive products or trends like Stanley cups, a lot of them are rooted in creators profiting off of people's insecurities, rather than genuine quality. Looking back, I liked how strongly it was worded, though I probably could have broken this up into smaller opinion articles with the amount of social-media problems I pointed out. Despite how long it is, I am also still proud of the article because incorporating visual elements like collages of comments and an interactive statistics slider helped break up the text.
Sports
Above are two of the first sports features I wrote on different teams. I really enjoyed the reporting process for these as I was able to learn about their goals and successes from various perspectives, from coaches and captains to junior athletes.
I collaborated with a J1 on the article above. We wanted to shine a light the work that goes on behind the scenes when it comes to athletics. Even among our classmates, we often heard that athletes were among the most sleep deprived, balancing both sports and school. We interviewed more than 10 sources for this one, including coaches, captains, and athletes. Ultimately, if I were to do this again, I would have improved upon the writing and collaborative process. Because we did some interviews separately and had slightly different ideas for the angle of the article, it did end up feeling a bit disjointed and not as well written as it could have been.
The above was a feature on an athlete who would go on to play her sport in college. This was one of the first experiences where I truly grasped how much of a commitment it takes, both from the students and parents, to become a serious athlete.
