Bloomington High School North, Nikean, 2010, Page 163

Description:	During Newspaper, senior Mike MoatesStands on top of a chair while his classmates sing Happy Birthday to him.Moates stated that this is a Newspapertradition. Everyone worksreally hard in.Newspaper, and we all take what we doseriously, Moates said.iPhoto by Zoe WitheredBig changes were in store this year for Northspublications. Not only did yearbook decide togo with a spring release date, but newspaperwent with a new design.These changes were different than whatthe staffs were accustomed to, but it was nothing thatthey couldnt handle.It was clear that publications were falling behind. Students were no longer picking up copies of Fused, andyearbook sales were lower than usual, but junior SamiHaddad had a plan to change things up a bit.I decided that we needed a website, Haddad said.We needed exposure, and while I was sure that no oneever had the motivation to take the paper out of schoolwith them, people would find the website accessible andconvenient.Its hard to say at this point if the website is helping asmuch as Haddad has hoped, since it has only been upfor less than a year, but Haddad believes its on the righttrack to being a success.Fuseds changes didnt stop there. In addition to thewebsite, the productions and design of Fused werechanged, too.Our staff this year consisted of mostly new people whowere inexperienced with how a newspaper runs, juniorVictoria Ison said. We decided to go with a slower publication pace that allowed us to produce fewer, but biggerissues.This has helped the staff grow closer together and understand all the steps in producing each issue. As first semester ended, the idea of a redesign was in everyones head.Fused lacked a sense of identity. Few if any people onthis years staff had input on the creation of Fused. Thiswas a problem, Haddad said. Ever since its conceptionlast year, we had issues with fonts, designs, captions,bylines, and other miscellaneous items.Our new redesign gave us the sense of uniformity, afeeling we never had before.The new design of Fused gives it a cleaner, moremodern, and sophisticated feel while still portraying thecharacteristics of North.[The new design] really defines us, our role, and represents who we are as an individual but at the same time,part of a group, Ison said.Yearbook also experienced its share of changes. Lastyears book didnt have to be finished until three weeksinto the summer and wasnt handed out to students untilthis year.Though this allowed every event to be covered in thebook, it was a great frustration for a lot of people not being able to get their yearbooks until the following schoolyear.Going with a spring release date will allow us to havethe book done by the end of the school year. But its moreof a time crunch for us, since the book has to be done bymid March, junior yearbook editor Maha Elsarrag said.For other staffers the spring release idea is one of thebest things that has happened. There will be no morestaying at school into the summer, and the last half of thesecond semester will be more relaxed now.I really like the idea. It gives us a chance to fill the bookwith our own memories, junior yearbook staffer Samantha Stutsman said. Being able to sign our books willcapture our high school experience at a whole new level.16y Celine Langpublications
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomnorth/id/6385
Collection:	Bloomington High School North

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