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Editor’s note: On Wednesday, Nov. 17, five students — from the Tyrone and Hollidaysburg Area high schools — got an insider’s view of the Altoona Mirror headquarters as part of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce’s Business and Schools Investing in Cooperative Solutions (BASICS) program. This is a recap of their time spent with Mirror staff and their thoughts on journalism.
Judy Rossi, the Blair County Chamber of Commerce’s curriculum development committee co-chair, said the BASICS program began in 2010 as a way to help students gain an up-close look at a career that interests them.
As high school students are looking to the future career-wise, the program offers them an opportunity to visit a job site and watch what unfolds, she said.
While the Mirror has previously taken part in the program and hosted students for the day, this year students became part of the story as they talked about what journalism means to them, and they also went out into the community to engage residents in conversation.
The experience was somewhat eye-opening, as several students said they wanted to make it big in the news industry, perhaps with the New York Times or the Washington Post. Most journalists start out in a smaller environment, though, and work their way up as they gain experience.
Insight into career
Jaci Bickel, a senior at Hollidaysburg Area High School, has always enjoyed writing and has often considered a career path in journalism.
With a specific interest in politics and wanting her voice to be heard, she said she wondered what the daily life of a journalist was like and what the job entailed.
Bickel and the other students stepped into the Mirror’s newsroom, the graphics design department and the print shop, which holds the Mirror’s two-story printing press, and witnessed what it takes to put out a daily, printed newspaper.
“We wanted insight into what this career would be like and to really experience what it’s like to work in this industry,” said Lexi Woodring, a senior at Hollidaysburg, who shadowed in the graphic design department.
Tyrone junior Libby Keller headed to the second floor editorial department to see how the paper is put together each day, while others interested in career paths as journalists took to the streets to talk with community members.
The journalist group — which included Bickel as well as Tyrone junior MacKenzie Hyde and Hollidaysburg junior Ivy Loya — were tasked with asking everyday people one simple question: For what are you thankful?
While they at first asked just the question to several people going about their day, the students quickly learned how writing is adaptive and interactive.
Questions of “for what are you thankful” turned into engaging conversations — with a local resident excited for her granddaughter’s …….
Source: https://www.altoonamirror.com/news/local-news/2021/11/students-its-all-about-the-community/