5 Tips to be An Outstanding School Paper

Adviser
Posted onNovember 10, 2018Posted inMaestro Tips, Mema MaestroLeave a Reply
Hello, teachers!

It is been a long time since I made my last post here on my blog. Sorry for not
responding to your queries for the past weeks. Aside from being busy on
computing of grades, I had sleepless nights to finish our campus paper.

I just joined our Division Schools Press Conference last November 7, 2018 in
our division. It was my second time to appear in the competition as a coach. I
used to be a school journalist when I was in high school. That point of my life
made me to appreciate journalism. Now that I am an adviser the flame is
greatly burning.

How does it feel to be a school paper adviser?

Honestly, it is stressful. You need to be an owl to edit and proofread articles.

Every SPA wants to have a paper which is error free. However, mistakes are
inevitable. Aside from that, you need to train your journalists for individual
events. Last year, I had three DSPC qualifiers. This year, I had only one. The
nervousness really creeps down to my core as my contestants join their
events.

There are times that I feel frustrated. Layouting is a hard thing. I need to find a
layout artist who can help me to finish our paper. This year, I had to seek help
of another layout artist because the artist we dealt last year went to Manila. I
was in a panic mode that I already waved the white flag. Until my former
student in college offered his help. I felt relief, but I cannot stop thinking the
outcome of the collaboration.

Moreover, finding a printing press is another immense challenge. I tried to be

rejected because some cannot entertain us anymore due to massive bulk of
papers made by other schools. I am blessed because there was a printing
press accepted our paper.

The trials do not stop there.

 A school paper exists if there is funding. We collect paper fee with legal
bases. The problem is we only had meager amount which releasing of printed
copies difficult. As of now, I borrowed money from my family to release our
paper. I hope that there will be funding for campus paper to encourage every
school to produce theirs. Maybe that will happen if there will be amendments
on Campus Journalism Act.

Heartbreaking moments cannot be avoided. I feel sad every time my

journalists and our paper lose in the competition. I need to make my learners
happy despite what happened. It is part of the contest. I admit that I feel
frustrated right now on having no winnings especially in the school paper
contest. I also thought of resting our pens and stop operating our English
newspaper. There are my friends who are willing to help me in the next
competition. I hope the passion is still there. I just feel that I am a failure. But, I
need to be strong as I need to continue the life of our paper which was
founded last year. I do not want our efforts to disappear.

I just need to set aside victories and defeats. After all, I am here as a sentinel
for press freedom. I need to put in mind that I am a school paper adviser
honing the budding journalists that could write, sketch, and capture better
future of our country. I am here not to compete, but to spread the importance
of campus paper in schools and in the country.

If you are planning to be a school paper adviser or if your principal assigned

you to be one, here are my tips.

1. Have basic knowledge in journalism. You need to know the areas of school
paper publication. You need to differentiate news from feature. Sports lingo is
a must have as an adviser. You need to find out the purpose of a dummy. A
paper adviser should be knowledgeable in journalistic writing because it is a
specialized form of writing.
2. Work under pressure. Your paper should be published before the deadline.
This is not easy because you have your teaching loads. Balancing is the key.
You need to edit articles of your staff immediately to avoid rushing. Honestly, I
stumble in paper production because I have to cram in doing the finishing
touch of the articles. Have time management.
3. Encourage your journalists intensively. The life of the paper also lies on the
participation of your school scribes. You need to elucidate their presence in
the editorial board. Pose a question such “Why are you here?” They should
really know their purpose and their duties. Then, you need to assist them in
 doing their coverage to ensure that they are doing well. If they fail, cheer them
up. Tell them that there is room for learning.
4. Have school paper organization and management. To make your paper
successful, you should have organization and management. Select the
editorial board wisely. Make sure that you have time for meetings. Assign
deadlines and help them meet the demands. You need to make sure
everything is fine including the working relationship of the journalists.

5. Benchmarking. As a beginner, it is a must to seek help from those who are

experienced. Have talks with your fellow school paper advisers. Ask them if
they can give you tips. Having their school paper in your hands is a bonus as
other SPAs do not give a printed one. I pray that all advisers help one another
in paper publication. I understand that there are secret formulae they want to
keep. Let us be generous to everyone. I suggest that all the divisions will have
a display area where the paper advisers can glance on the winning papers.

Being a school paper adviser is not easy. You need to brace yourself for
obstacles ahead of your way. You need to have a high stress tolerance to
survive.

For those paper advisers who are reading this post, I want also to know your
practices. I want to learn from you. As of now, I struggle in layouting. If you
have a software, I hope you can share it to me. For my visitors especially
those I help in their lessons, there is one thing I request. If you can donate for
my blog and for campus paper publication, please contact me.