Barnegat High School's Newspaper A Class Act

On a recent afternoon, Katie Greco's Journalism II class – also known as the staff of Barnegat High School's newspaper, The Roar – were hashing out a busy week of coverage.

They would need a story on the upcoming rumble. And what about Saturday's Snow Ball?

"I don't think so," said one staffer.

"Nobody but underclassmen are going," said another. 

Whether they're covering pep rallies or community events, Greco said if she could pick a word to describe the nine juniors and seniors in the class who put out the all-student-run newspaper each month, it would be motivated.

And it shows when the students – all girls except for one – talk about what got them interested in journalism and their hopes for careers after school.

Like several of her classmates, Brianna Adams, a 16-year-old junior, wants to be a sports reporter.

“When I see people on the field reporting, that’s what I really want to do,” she said. “This is just the first step.”

Briana Taylor, an 18-year-old senior and co-editor of the paper, said she’s thinking about going into politics or political journalism, and she’s always thought she’d be a writer. “This was the only English class left in the building I hadn’t taken,” she laughed.

Some fell into the subject unexpectedly, they said, but have come to enjoy it. Stephanie Cardoso, 16 and a junior, said she was just looking for something different when she signed up, but she’s found herself more interested in reporting since she started. Senior Nicole Shershen, 18, said she hadn’t planned on taking the class, but likes having the chance to write.

And 17-year-old junior Alexis Conte said she got placed in Greco’s Journalism I class last year, an elective she hadn’t signed up for, because writing isn’t usually her thing. 

But she ended up enjoying the class against her own expectations, and signed up for a second round. 

She gets special satisfaction out of a byline. “Seeing my name, that’s the highlight of my life,” she said. It turns out Conte likes to write, “but it has to be something I enjoy,” she said.

She wasn’t the only one who said learning to be a reporter changed how she felt about writing. 

“I like writing articles, but I hate writing essays,” said Adams.  With news stories, there’s a tried-and-true structure and form. “You get your information in there, hook the reader, and as long as you accomplish that, you’re good,” she said.

Putting together the paper each month has also taught the class how to handle the kinds of challenges every reporter eventually encounters: dealing with deadlines, juggling the dual role of photographer and journalist, stressing over sources who don’t call back. 

Co-editor Dakota Schrantz, 16 and a junior, said her very first assignment turned into an embarrassing lesson in trying to cover a subject she had only a thin grasp on. 

“My first story was about football,” she said. “I don’t know anything about football. The head coach was so psyched for me to write the story, and my first comment…was a football player coming up to me and saying, ‘That story makes no sense.’ I think I said there was a thousand-yard pass.”

She can laugh at the memory now, but “I was so embarrassed,” she said. 

Junior Jessica Pepenella figured interviewing the swimming coach for a story would be easy enough, since she’s on the team. Not so much. “She basically said, ‘You’re not my first priority,’” Pepenella said with a laugh.

Rapid note-taking, another necessity, also has been a skill they’ve been mastering.

“It’s difficult at first to try and write down everything,” said 16-year-old Sean Gancarz, a junior. It’s helped teach them to be prepared for interviews with questions in advance, the students said.

They’ve also had to learn to deal with oversight of their words; their stories are vetted and edited not just by their teacher, but also by the school administration.

Despite the challenges, the work is rewarding, The Roar staff said. They were visibly proud as they talked about a recent edition of the paper devoted to covering a visit to the school by the Patriot Flag, a mobile 9/11 memorial making its way across the country. 

Everybody pitched in, interviewing first responders, offering background on the attacks that many of them can only just remember and covering the event itself.

“It was a really emotional setting,” said Lauren Spain, a 17-year-old junior.

Schrantz agreed. By the end of her interview with 9/11 survivor Joe Torillo, she said, “I was in tears.”

The staff said they’ve found a welcome byproduct of working on the paper has been learning more about their school, their fellow students and even themselves. 

Spain said flipping through the scrapbooks she and the others keep of their own article clippings gives her both insight into her own writing and a feeling of accomplishment. 

“I read my first article and realized how much I’ve improved since September, when I started,” she said. “It’s your own. You have something to be proud of.”