Twelve members of the Wolfpack staff and the editorin-chief of Yearbook attended the Wake Up Call journalism conference at Long Beach City College on Saturday September 24, 2016.

“We defined news and what makes it relevant and the basics of how to interview people; we learned how to take other examples and make them into our own without plagiarizing,” said freshman Bianca Barretto.

At the start of the event, there were students and teachers wearing pajamas, eating donuts, and drinking juice. There was also an exchange of newspapers from the participating schools while editors reviewed ideas and multiple ways to edit a paper. The members were then split into separate groups and told to go wherever they needed the most help or had the most interest in depending on the classes offered. There
were classes focusing on photography, news content, yearbook storytelling, features, and sports writing. Michael Fleeman, a professor at LBCC, lead the news content class.

“What is your passion? Do what you love. Be an expert in your field, in what it is you like. Be an expert in something,” said Michael Fleeman during his presentation.

Fleeman gave advice and tips on how to write the perfect story as well as places to search for a topic. Jennifer Laredo, freshman and Adrian Frias, junior, participated in the photography class.

“We learned different ways to take a better quality photo without a professional camera,” said Laredo.

“They showed us what a picture should look like and the sizes you can use for different types of photos,” said Frias.

The conference ended with a speech by Konnie Krislock from Sage High School. She is a well known in the high school journalism community given that she is a strong legal rights activist who created the legal right Ed Code 48907 which states that the press is allowed to write anything as long as it does not interrupt the regular school day or cause any problems in school or outside of school. It also stated that student journalists have the right to decide what they want in the paper and the advisor cannot say no.

“The conference was a great experience and I hope to go again next year,” said junior Alyssa Hartdige.