Digital Publishing · Day One Quest
What Do Valley Kids Actually Make?
Everything on this site was made by a student sitting in the chair you are sitting in. Some of it took a class period. Some of it took a month. Your job today is to go look at all of it, decide what is good, and figure out what you want to make first.
How this works
Nine stops. Each one has real pieces published on hoothoot.org and two questions. Open the links in new tabs, look around, then answer on your paper. Write in full sentences. Answers like “idk” and “it was good” get you sent back to the station.
If a stop grabs you, stay in it. Reading five pieces at one station beats skimming one at all nine.
The front page
Start where a reader starts. Do not click anything yet. Just look.
- The Hoot — front pageValley High School
- About the publicationWho we are
Q1Write down the title of one piece on the front page that makes you want to click it. Then explain what that title does to earn the click.
Q2Who is this site for? Point to something on the front page as your evidence.
Reviews
An album, a movie, a show, a console. You make a claim about whether it is good and then you prove it.
- Blurryface by Twenty One PilotsAv · album review
- Eternal Sunshine by Ariana GrandeLucas · album review
- 2014 Forest Hills Drive by J. ColeNiko · album review
- Fruits BasketLucas Bland · series review
- Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceAnnie · film review
- Xbox 360 Still Matters to MeSolomon Harmer · retro review
Q3Pick one review. In one sentence, what is the writer’s actual claim about the thing they reviewed?
Q4Copy one specific detail they used as proof. A lyric, a scene, a moment. Not a general compliment.
Hot takes and editorials
An opinion with a spine. The title picks the fight and the piece has to win it.
- Diet Coke is Absolutely NastyBella Carrion
- Taylor Swift is OverratedLyric Brock
- Crumbl is OverratedSophia Speights
- Burger King Kinda Fell OffSolomon Harmer
- Fishing Regulations Should Be Enforced HarderCamden Critchfield
- Anyone Can Appreciate and Create ArtTrey Valdez
Q5Find the take you disagree with most. Name it, then give your counterargument in one sentence.
Q6Write a hot take title of your own that you could actually defend for 500 words.
Poetry and personal writing
The hardest stuff on the site. Short, true, and published under a real name.
- OregonJojo Holman · poem
- Falling ActionFinn Argyle · poem
- My Little VillageJocelyn Ortiz-Burquez · essay
- The Summer After High SchoolJocelyn Ortiz-Burquez · essay
- My Experience At Valley High SchoolJojo Holman
- Reflections as Student Body PresidentLucas
Q7Copy the single line that hit you hardest. Then name why it works: the image, the sound, the surprise, or the honesty.
Q8These writers chose what to share and what to keep. Name one thing the writer put on the page and one thing they clearly left off it.
Interviews and profiles
You point the attention at somebody else. Staff, students, people around the building.
- Valley High’s Queen of CrochetIvi Carman
- Getting to Know Tierca, the LibrarianAna Duarte
- Valley High’s VP: Britnee EngStaff profile
- The Art of Death with Boe JarmanLyric Brock · taxidermy
- Interviews with Av!Av
- Sean Savage SpotlightStudent spotlight
Q9Who got interviewed, and what made that person worth a whole article?
Q10Write one question you would have asked that the interviewer did not.
Podcasts
Two mics, a room, and a reason to talk. Give each one two minutes with the audio on.
- The Voice of Valley, ep. 1with Jacinto
- The Voice of Valley, ep. 5Tyler Mathewson and CJ Dzubak
- EZ Zoology, ep. 1EZ
- EZ Dubs with Bany, ep. 1EZ
Q11Listen to the first thirty seconds of one episode. What do the hosts do to make you stay?
Q12Name the podcast you would host, who your co-host would be, and what you would talk about every week.
Video
Phone footage, a mic, and an edit. Notice how much of this was shot at school or five minutes from it.
- “We’re Valley Kids…”Kenley Taylor
- BSPN: Bella’s Softball Mic’d UpBella
- Horses with RemiRemi
- Gone Fishin’Camden Critchfield
- Fashion Tips from Neveyah: Up-CycleAna Duarte
- Exp3rimental_FilmJose Gutierrez
Q13Pick one video. What did it get from being video that the same idea written down would have lost?
Q14Guess what they actually shot and edited it with. Then say whether you have access to the same thing.
Art and photography
Drawing, painting, photos, design. Published with the artist’s own words next to it.
- Hair DyingSammy Garcia
- New LifeAnder Barkley
- — EXHAUST —Seven Roundy
- The Dream of all DreamsVaeh Aldridge
- Kylie’s FloralsBrooklynn Sorensen
- Art @ Valley with VaehCharcoal work, interviewed
Q15Art gets published with words around it. What did the writing next to the art add that the image alone did not say?
Q16What could you photograph or draw at Valley that nobody on this site has published yet?
Useful things: how-tos, recipes, playlists
Pieces that hand the reader something they can use before they close the tab.
- How to Write a BookRiver Fine
- Recipe: Fudgy BrowniesMichelle Huber
- Playlist: just smash stuffMax Arnold
- The Owl MixBrooklynn Montoya
- Songs Make Up Who You ArePlaylist essay
Q17Open one. What did you actually walk away with? Name the thing, not the vibe.
Q18What do you already know how to do well enough to teach in 400 words or one short video?
Your first pitch
You have now seen the whole menu. Time to order.
Q19Rank your top three stops, the ones where you could see your own name on the byline. Number them 1, 2, 3.
Q20Write your first pitch. Name the type, the topic, and one sentence on why anybody should read, watch, or listen to it.
Q21Name the one piece you found today that set the bar for you, and who made it. That is the standard you are aiming at.
The Hoot · hoothoot.org · Valley High School · Everything linked here was made by a Valley student.
The Hoot 