Magpie is the official school article site for Logansport High School. Magpie is recognized as a Distinguished Site by School Newspapers Online (SNO), which means it meets high standards for scholastic online journalism. Many different topics are covered in this scenery, due to such a diverse classroom and writers. The site touches on clubs, current news, pop culture, and even podcasts. Behind the scenes, these writers work together to accomplish such a consistent site, so the community within the classroom is also such a big part of Magpie.
Despite what’s being published, our classroom shows ingenuity. The aim is to synergize together and continue elevating the site, which is something everyone shares in common. It isn’t just about journaling, but it’s about tuning into your creative side and being able to have a community and a space with such a positive and bright ideas. The classroom overall is relaxed, goes with flow and eases into different lessons and topics which helps improve everyone’s writing.
“You should join Magpie because you get to explore your creativity,” Freshman Erusena Angervil said. “You also get to connect with new people, especially if you’re interested in journalism, and you can explore that aspect too. Not only just writing articles, but also taking photos, communicating, and podcasts, you can just talk a lot.”
Magpie is such an inviting classroom, regardless of who you are, your interests, and your overall opinions. What matters most is your energy and good, positive feelings. No one is ever excluded without their own accord, and it’s just a big family that jokes around and comes together by the passion of Magpie.
“My favorite thing about the magpie environment is how welcoming and friendly they are, regardless of what grade you’re in, what classes you take, and what extracurriculars you do,” Sophomore Marissa Saengkeo said. “It really does not matter when you come to Magpie; what they want is your personality and your vibes in this classroom.”
With the help of students and staff leaders, a fun, spontaneous and calm space is created. Even when working hard, everyone deserves a day when they can laugh and ease whatever problem outside of school that is going on, and that is the beauty of it.
“Each week we typically have a day called ‘Fun Fridays,’ and that is when the staff culture director will make fun activities for ‘Fun Friday,’ and it would get the class together,” Saengkeo said. “It’s just a little fun freeing activity for them after you’ve gone through a week of school, you know? And it’s just the class I always look forward to every day because of the people that I get to socialize with. When you’re there it is not as stressful as a typical class like you would think. It’s very laid back, and you don’t have everyday assignments, it’s more like projects if you will.”
Creative freedom and flexibility are something we all yearn for, and thats somehting Magpie has. Not only do you get time to do work, but you also get to write or touch on any topic, and it’s very flexible. Specialized editors are there if you have any problems or if you want an extension, because they are aware and don’t want you to feel pressured or overly stressed.
“For your stories, you are given about a week and a half to 2 weeks to complete them, which I think is very great and awesome,” Saengkeo said. “And writing the articles isn’t as bad as people make it seem to be. It really is very fun, and you have a lot of flexibility if you communicate with your editors if you have any problems.”
This upcoming school year, many new students, mostly freshmen, will be joining Magpie, which creates a bigger space for more creative minds. Before they enter, they should be prepared and open-minded to different topics, and find something most suitable for them.
“For the freshman espceially since they are going to be new, I think they should find their comfort zone first,” Sophomore Yareli Hernandez said. “Whether it’s writing for news, opinions, or doing podcasting, taking photos. Like they need to fine their niche, basically. And from there, I think they should be comfortable in that area. When I came here my first year, I was very nervous, but I did take a journalism class to know the basics. So I started to find my comfort zone in writing, especially being a reporter, going out and finding all kinds of stories.”
Once you get through the beginning stage of Magpie you’re able to adapt and you’re going to reach a state of flow. Even if there is pressure in the beginning, that’s just to get you out there. In the end, once you adapt everything will fall into place accordingly.
“For each upcoming freshman, especially, I just have to say go with the flow,” Hernandez said. “There’s gonna be a lot of pressure on you, but it’ll be okay, you know it’s all gonna be all right. Just keep on going.”
Being able to showcase creativity allows everyone to be unique. Not every class nor teacher sees every student from the same perspective, but Magpie does. It’s overall just a class so worth having in school. It’s refreshing knowing that after a long day, you can be in a space where everyone is different, and despite being different, they don’t treat being different as a negative thing. No one will judge you for your different interests when it comes to what you want to write or publish; they work with you, not against you.
In recent events, Magpie got to go to Ball State University and explore different workshops and sessions. They got to learn a lot when it comes to their preferred genre of journalism. That itself makes the class worth joining.
