BANGOR - Reporters on the Bangor High School student newspaperwere up against the clock Saturday, putting their wordsmith skills togood use as they composed headlines for the sports section.
Tossing ideas back and forth, they finally settled on some cleverphrases that met with everyone's satisfaction.
'This is hard for one person, but we can feed off each other,'said Casey Dunn, co-editor of the Ram-Page and one of five studentsputting finishing touches on only the second issue since the schoolstopped publishing a paper three years ago.
The classroom of science teacher and Ram-Page adviser Al Banfieldwas a flurry of activity as the reporters - who double as editors -toiled to meet deadlines. Along with Dunn, co-editor Kaitlin Walmsleyand entertainment editor Krysta Koncinsky were creating headlines,proofreading copy and measuring space for stories and pictures.Meanwhile, Richard Korman and Carlin Puckett were using a computerprogram to plot out the finished product that would soon be taken tothe office of the Ellsworth American to be published.
Banfield was everywhere, pointing out the clock that was tickingaway, offering suggestions and dispensing advice.
Producing the school newspaper has gotten easier as staff membershave learned how to compromise and to manage their time better, theysaid. Seeing their stories in print and hearing the positive feedbackthat has ensued have become sources of pride.
'It's exciting to hear that people are reading something youworked so hard on,' said Walmsley.
But the time crunch continues to be a challenge. 'We're startingto realize that unless we're here every free second, it's not goingto come out on time,' she said.
Last published three years ago, the Ram-Page had been on hiatussince teacher Junita Drisko stepped down after 15 years as adviser.
The first issue of the reborn newspaper came out in October justbefore homecoming weekend. It included a front page photo of astudent preparing for the event 'to say we're back and we're timely,'Banfield said. Possibly four more issues will be published this year,he said.
The first Ram-Page also had a story about students Ben Weissman,Dave Kleinschmidt and James Bailey, who all scored perfect scores ontheir SATs, as well as a feature on the Bangor High Junior ReserveOfficer Training Core.
'It's interesting to see what types of things high school studentscare about,' said Shannon Martin, University of Maine assistantprofessor of journalism and director of UM's Center for StudentJournalism, which sponsors an annual high school newspaper conferencewith recognition for outstanding student journalism.
The more than 70 high school newspapers across the state varywidely in terms of content, according to the center.
Contained in the upcoming issue of the Ram-Page is a story aboutAlex Parks, a blind student, and another about United TechnologiesCenter in Bangor. Also included are stories about the school's AIDSactivists and about Jue Wang, the top student in the class.
'There's so much going on at school it's not hard to findstories,' said Dunn.
Including movie reviews, a horoscope and an advice column in theirpaper, Bangor students aim for an 'upbeat, lighthearted' publication.But they hope also to write serious stories. Down the road, plans areto find space for an editorial page as well as letters to the editor.
'The more mix of stories, the more interesting a newspaper is,'said Banfield, a former copy editor at the Bangor Daily News andsports writer at the Kansas City Star and Times.
Newspapers not only teach art, business, communication skills andethics, they 'help fulfill a high school's role as an institution,'said Kathryn Olmstead, UM associate professor of journalism andformer director of the Center for Student Journalism.
When high schools are going through the accreditation process,it's one of the things that is looked at 'to see if it's a qualityschool,' she said.
While the Ram-Page previously was produced as part of a BangorHigh school journalism course, the newspaper now is anextracurricular activity.
The upside is that staff can be drawn from students with a broadrange of interests, said Banfield. But, since most of those involvedin the newspaper are also involved in a host of other activities,it's a challenge to find the time to sit down and actually impart theins and outs of journalism.
'Learning is done on the fly,' he said.
Also on the Ram-Page staff are Jolene Belanger and Melanie Craig,sports editors; Elizabeth Burroughs-Heineman, features editor; andTristan Taber, photo editor. Frequent contributors include AmandaFahey and Tara Hackett.
