By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The staff of the Viking Journal figured it was time to change. For over 20 years, the official news source for Niles High School had been waiting for an upgrade.
Finally, on Thursday, the transformation was complete and the freshest version of the paper rolled off the presses larger and brighter than ever.
The Viking Journal is the product of the 21 students in Marilyn Klimek's Writing for Publication class at the high school. The former higher education reporter is in her first year as advisor for the Journal and she said the goals for the class were set at a high level from the beginning.
So far, Klimek said the students have done well responding to the news room atmosphere and “are really getting a kick out of it.”
Some of the same obstacles faced in professional daily newsrooms are being thrown at the feet of the Journal staff. Already, the editors have spent after-school hours working on layouts for photos and stories.
The color and format upgrades to the Journal are not the only changes in the class. The staff said they have a little more control this year compared to year's past.
Thursday's edition was one example of the more edgy topics covered by the Journal. The first color edition touches on interracial dating and PDA, or public displays of affection in the school's hallways; all topics the staff said they would never had been able to previously address.
Klimek's class will also publish nine stories for Leader Publication's 25 annual Horizon's edition, being published mext week.
Howard-Ellis and Oak Manor elementary schools will be highlighted, plus, the staff will provide recap for Vikings sports.
Business editor junior Heather Croteau said the added responsibility of writing for Horizons created a new set of priorities at times.
All the extra hours of organizing layouts and bumping articles eventually pays off in end, Moffitt said.
A goal of the writing for publication class has become to increase the amount of times the Journals are printed from once, to twice a month. To cover the cost of more color editions, the price of the Journal has been increased from 25 to 50 cents.
Klimek said the group hopes to release another issue with a homecoming wrap-up and a final preview of the bond proposal, before the election later this month.