Twin triumph inspired by young writers, fresh perspectives
Imperial Valley Press reporter Karina Lopez knows what it’s like to live with twins.
Some of us in the newsroom get a good giggle in when she regales us with stories of her not-so-little brothers, Mickey and Alex Lopez, calling in to ask her important life questions, like how to properly microwave a burrito.
As tuned in as she might be with her own personal Double-Mint Duo, I think even Karina was stupefied and exasperated to find out Mickey and Alex were among five sets of twins graduating from Imperial High tonight, and that they were one in 20 sets of twins who attended Imperial this past school year.
It’s an amazing story, and the kind of fun head-scratcher and pleasant surprise that would not have been made possible without us first seeing it written on a smaller scale by an Imperial High School student earlier in the year on our IVHigh web site.
Imperial High student Arlene Lamas wrote about the 13 sets of twins that she knew of in a story coming out of Esteban Ortiz’s journalism class in the early part of May.
Having worked with Imperial, as well as Central, Southwest, Brawley, Calipatria and Calexico through our newspaper’s high school journalism program all year long, I have had the opportunity to see a lot of young writers come up with brilliant ideas that not only represent themselves and their schools well, but that are worthy of a little mimicry.
I’m giving credit where credit is due on the twins article, because the minute I read it, I realized others would enjoy it, too. But the big ideas, and taking them out of the classroom and onto the front page of the newspaper, did not start and stop there.
There has been student reporting from Calexico and Southwest high schools that have started at IVHigh and been picked up by the newspaper.
And this year, some of the best and brightest in each class got the chance to come in and write stories for us on our Teen page, and even cover assignments in a pinch.
Recent Southwest graduate Gabriela Miramontes is a prime example. She was probably the single hardest-working and most dedicated journalism student at any school in the Valley this year, emerging very early on as a kid with the will and the drive to do this professionally.
Gabby covered some events for us on the news side, such as the Sheriff’s Volunteer Services awards ceremony, and she is a frequent contributor on the Teen page, along with Imperial’s Mikaela Wayne, Calexico’s Aaron Perez and Central’s Cindy Cruz, all talented writers and whip-smart students.
These teens and others all over the Valley, through their hard work and unique perspectives, really helped get me jazzed about journalism again after 21 years on the job.
A huge percentage of the youths who helped contribute to the more than 500 pieces of student news, sports and opinion writing that was well-researched, sourced substantially and arranged with engaging leads, quotes and storytelling, showed me that kids are not in fact being consumed and spit out by the social media machine and abbreviated text-message culture.
If anyone thinks modern teenagers are a Snapchat away from all-out oblivion, or that traditional journalistic principles are as tired as your grandmother’s Facebook account, I saw the two co-exist and coalescence into something impressive and important, growing from month to month between September and June.
Saturday will feature the last Teen page for the school year, to pick up again in the fall when a new batch of interns culled from the IVHigh ranks will be helping us old folks get inspired through their fresh perspectives and the restorative powers of knowing that the kids are gonna be all right.
IVHigh has been a blast, and taking to the classroom has been truly gratifying. It wasn’t always perfect, it didn’t always go as planned and it lost momentum at periods (thanks to my workload and good ol’ senioritis/second-semester malaise), but when it worked, it was the effort of the teachers and students who wanted to show what they could do at their schools that made all the difference. It was a great experience that will only get better in years to come.
And thanks Arlene Lamas, for making Karina Lopez’s life a living hell as she had your twin triumph to live up to, corralling 40 students for an epic photo session, where only two of them asked her how to work the microwave.
This column first appeared in the Imperial Valley Press, June 13, 2014.
For context: What is IVHigh? http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/local/i-v-students-publish-through-ivhigh/article_c3e813c6-3898-11e3-bd5b-001a4bcf6878.html
On the Web: http://www.ivpressonline.com/ivhigh/