Justifying Journalism by Marcus Boehme

Valley High School is a place of safety, creativity, positivity, determination and building each other up.  The 2023-24 school year brings many changes to Valley High. Office relocation and restoration for our safety and security. New teachers, attendance policies, and classes to make our school year the best yet. Even with all the other changes going on, the most exciting change is the journalism class. This class will be a historic addition to the school, and as the years go by, moments and memories will be there for all to see, as long as Valley High School is around and even after! 

A typical class where there are small assignments every day, building a grade to pass and then earning the credit is not the case here. We still do get graded, and we are earning a credit, but assignments per quarter (and maybe some small side quests) to create a masterpiece to publish by the end. Each year will have about 4 unique projects per student published onto our website that will be created so everybody can see the greatness we are. It is something so different, but so bold, thus being the reason it will be a marvelous addition to the school. 

Throughout the years it will change formats, topics, trends, teachers, students, principals and much more. It might seem permanent for the students that participate that year, for all of the hard work they put into the projects that will be completed. The documentation of these changes and the different people to teach and attend Valley High School will be historic and a part of the VHS history forever! The internet is used everyday, all the time, everywhere, by almost everybody

People that are unfamiliar with VHS might only know of it from stereotypes and rumors from ‘that one friend’ that went to Valley because he was a, “bad kid.” In fact, my first experience with VHS was the same way. I had a struggle attending my boundary high school because of teachers that wouldn’t care about students, or their job, and every day was a canvas assignment online whilst they sat at their desk and occupied time. A short time of dealing with that led me to a reoccuring attendance problem. I knew that something needed to change, going to class was not an option as long as this was the case. I had a few acquaintances that changed to VHS, and they couldn’t keep talking about how excellent it was. I was still skeptical, until I had a meeting with the principal and it changed my view entirely. I made the decision to switch schools, started at Valley and it was the greatest thing I have done in my high school career.