The Mycenaean

Also known as The Mycenaean, the LRHS Newspaper class is an elective course offered to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. 

The class offers opportunities to explore journalism, work towards leadership positions, and improve communication and soft skills.  

About the class

Every semester, the LRHS newspaper welcomes new students.

In order to join the class, students must meet the grade requirements and fill out an application. Once their application is reviewed, aspiring newspaper students are interviewed by a current newspaper student.

After applying and interviewing, accepted students must sign up for the actual class on PowerSchools.

After the minor hassle of applying and joining the class, everything else is practically smooth sailing.

Newspaper is a student-led class meaning that students have the freedom to decide what direction they’d like to take with their writing

The one requirement the class demands is that students produce at least one article per week. However, students can receive article credit in other ways.

After the first four weeks of school, new students have the option to participate in creating social media content for article credit.

This includes planning, filming, interviewing, and posting content on the LRHS Newspaper social media platforms. 

Regardless of whether a student mainly writes articles or produces social media content, every student in class contributes in some way.

The class edition of the physical newspaper, or“print,” is one of the main ways students in class can contribute to something important.

Print

Print is absolutely vital to the LRHS Newspaper class. 

Print provides a way for the class to come together and produce something as a joint unit.

However, in order to produce print, the class needs to raise money; this is usually done by selling ads to organizations and businesses in the community.

Once ad sales are underway, the division of work begins. This typically includes deciding who will be in charge of formatting which pages as well as who is responsible for writing which articles.

The print is designed digitally on Adobe InDesign; although InDesign is finicky and the laptops are old, the class always manages to produce something they are proud to distribute.

No matter how long a student has been in class, there will always be some way they can add to print.

Students can take part in selling ads, taking pictures for articles, or writing a featured article, there’s a piece of every student in every print edition.

Print is also an amazing opportunity for students who want leadership positions to prove themselves.

Leadership

Upon joining the class, every student starts as a Staff Member.

However, if a student decides that Newspaper is something they care about and they’d like to commit to, they can work towards becoming a Junior Editor.

Students who want to be a Junior Editor should make an effort to produce a variety of content (including social media), participate/contribute to print, and be an active member of the class.

Once a student becomes a Junior Editor, they will be in charge of a certain number of Staff Writers. It is a Junior Editor’s job to answer their Staff Writers’ questions, edit their articles, and post their articles.

A Junior Editor can work towards becoming a Senior Editor, Website Editor, or Editor in Chief (EiC).

A Senior Editor has a similar job to that of a Junior Editor but can enjoy the perks of having more influence in the class.

The Website Editor is responsible for ensuring The Mycenaean website runs smoothly — includes making sure posts are going up correctly, making sure the website is user-friendly, and making sure the website is representative of the wide variety of content the class produces.

The EiC is the highest level of leadership a student can earn in the class. 

The EiC is responsible for guiding new students through learning how to write articles, leading print, taking charge of changes in the class, building community, and answering any questions any student may have. The EiC is also responsible for editing the Junior Editor’s articles.

Although there is a set hierarchy in terms of leadership, every student communicates and collaborates with each other. It’s important to the members of the class to make sure everyone feels included and valued.

My experience

I became a part of the LRHS Newspaper class my sophomore year.

Once I was comfortable with the structure of the class and the process of writing articles, I started writing articles on topics that interested me. I loved that I was able to write on issues that were important to me; I also loved that once I’d finished writing my article for the week, I had the rest of the week to work on anything else I needed to.

Initially, I wasn’t certain if I wanted to pursue a leadership role. LRHS offers so many interesting electives and I wasn’t sure I wanted to sacrifice two class periods to one class (one per semester).

However, after speaking with my fellow classmates, I decided to go for it.

As a Junior Editor, I mainly focused on my Staff Writers and making sure I was someone people could come to for advice or to answer questions. I honestly loved doing just that; I didn’t even consider going for EiC until it was encouraged by my classmates and teacher.

I decided to take a shot at it and took charge of that year’s junior print edition. It honestly was one of the most stressful processes I’ve ever been a part of; that being said, seeing the final product and earning the title of EiC was one of the most rewarding experiences of my high school career.

The community and environment of the class has always been something that I thought set Newspaper apart from other classes.

Whether it be simply writing an article or bringing food for Food Friday, there are so many parts of Newspaper that students can take part of and enjoy.For more information on the class and it’s content, visit the official website at themycenaean.org or the class Instagram page.