Interviews, body paragraphs, first drafts, final drafts, pictures, headlines, news briefs, online articles, deadlines… This is what it is like to write for the school newspaper.

History and Process

The Miami High Times is the oldest scholastic newspaper in Miami-Dade County, with its first issue published in October 1923. Dr. DeNight became the TIMES advisor about 14 years ago. The newspaper’s current location is room 1219, which has 16 desktop computers, 5 laptops, 1 printer, 1 scanner and 3 cameras, including a professional one.  In order for students to join TIMES, they must be part of any of his three journalism classes.

Before publication, articles go through a peer-review process of being read by two classmates first. After students finish revisions on their big stories, they then submit them as the 1st draft to advisor Dr. DeNight who then makes editing suggestions.

What do students get from the newspaper?

Times staff writers learn great lessons in the class. “For something to be published, it has to be checked and fixed many times,” said journalism 1 student, junior Elizabeth Rivas. “I did not know that.”

Teamwork is key. “I have learned that nothing can happen without one another,” said 4th-year journalism student Jasmin Ortega. “As The Miami High Times Editor-in-Chief, a lot is expected from me since I have multiple jobs for the newspaper. Our staff is a blessing. We are there helping each other out to get everything done.”

Getting the job done is not as easy as it seems

Students, although at different journalism levels, all share similar challenges as writers. “Choosing a topic to write about is always challenging,” said Layout Editor, senior Randy Gregorio.

Interviewing people is not as easy as it seems. “When I went to do my first interview ever, I asked the person if I could interview him, and he said ‘No’,” said junior Genoveva Mejia, journalism 1 student. “I have troubles interviewing people because sometimes I feel like I’m bothering them, and I don’t like to bother people.”

Even picking what to write about, and how to write it, could be challenging. “I have the most trouble coming up with leads and headlines for my story,” said Layout Editor, junior Emely Herrera. “[As a writer] you have to really get something that will hook the reader in, and that is not always easy.”

Enjoying the process

Although there are multiple challenges to producing the school newspaper, students seem to enjoy it. “I like that I get to serve as a mentor for the level one students,” said Layout Editor, junior Gina Martinez. “It lets you reach out to others, and helps you get used to talking to people when you interview.”

“The satisfaction of getting to see my story printed in a newspaper is priceless. It’s a way of seeing my hard work paid off,” said Herrera. “I also love the people that I get to work with because they’re a bunch of cool people who really do a lot for the newspaper. Without them, we probably would not have one at all. They inspire me to do better.

Journalism 1 student, senior Jonathan Barrientos, enjoys reaching out to new people and getting to know their opinion. “I get to interact with new people when interviewing, and It helps me develop social skills outside the classroom.”

Leadership staff

Producing The Miami High Times 5 times each year, and also publishing online <Miamihighnews.com> almost weekly, requires a leadership staff that is willing to sacrifice to make it happen. “I’ve been in journalism since my freshman year,” said Ortega. “I have seen many great Editors-in-Chief before me, from whom I’ve learned their ways. They taught me so much so I decided to live up to their legacy while doing something I loved, writing and publishing a newspaper for a great school. I would say that is why I decided to run for editor-in-chief this year.

“I like to make sure that every event in the school is covered,” said junior Ariel Trueba. “I decided to run for News Editor because I’m very involved in what goes around in the school, so I find out what is new so it could be written about.”

“I love having the chance to make our pages as creative as possible,” said senior Allison Lazo. “I like to help out people, even when that requires me to stop doing what I’m doing just to assist them. I wanted to become Layout Editor-in-Chief because it was a way of helping improve the newspaper’s overall image, plus I love doing lay-out.

Editors also have challenges of their own while putting the newspaper together. “Often times the computers freeze,” said Gregorio. “It ends up taking forever to get one page laid out, and if it freezes at the wrong time, you could even lose all your work.”
“We have to have everything in a by a certain day in order to send it to the printer,” said Ortega. “Layout needs to be done, mistakes need to be found, and even though there are always imperfections, it comes out beautifully.”

Satisfying the readers

Times readers like what they find in the school paper. “I think this year’s issues have been better than for the past 2-3 years,” said biology teacher Mr. Perez. “This year they have provided more even coverage to what goes around in the school. The website has also been a great addition, and the layout is pretty modern and easy to navigate. When I want to know what is going around in the school, I usually visit the website to find out.”

Similarly, sophomore Eric Rodriguez said, “Sometimes I don’t know about certain things that have occurred around in the school because I’m too busy focused on my personal responsibilities,” he said. “The newspaper helps me stay updated.”

Junior Rossel Meraz feels encouraged when his opinion is taken into account. “Sometimes I’m quoted in an article, because I was interviewed for it, and that’s why I like to read the paper,” he said. “I like to know where does my opinion stand compared to others’ in the school.”