There are many writers, artists and photographers in school, but many of them do not know that there are classes in which they can show their creativity to the school and community.

At a recent elective fair, students were able to learn about classes from the Journalism Academy such as newspaper, video and radio production. Writing electives such as fantasy literature and Echoes literary magazine were also presented. Newspaper production and writing electives were shown in the Media Center while video and radio production were shown in the TV studio.

Newspaper production, run by English teacher and journalism advisor Jessica Nassau, teaches students how to produce a newspaper. Students in the class write articles, create videos and take pictures for the school’s newspaper, The Rampage. In addition to producing a monthly newspaper, the class can improve one’s writing and make a contribution to the school.

Two clubs that were featured in the elective fair will become classes next year. Echoes, the literary magazine run by English teacher Sean Pang, is a creative writing class that encourages students to write fictional stories, poetry and prose to be published in the magazine each May. For other creative writers, fantasy literature is another class that offers an outlet. Fantasy literature allows students to write science fiction.

Pang wanted to turn these clubs into a class. “I realized there were a lot of kids that are into sci-fi and fantasy so over the summer I put together a syllabus and then I started a club,” said Pang.

TV and video production, run by Timothy Hibberd, is also a class in the Journalism Academy. TV Production teaches students how a television station works. The students also produce the daily morning announcements. Students in video production produce the videos that are featured on the morning announcements.

Radio production, also run by Hibberd, is a class that has not been taught in recent years but will be revived next year. Students will learn how to manage a radio station and become disc jockeys. They will also be allowed to bring their own music to broadcast.

The elective fair was effective for students deciding on an elective for next year. Sophomore Joshua Okletey said, “I was really glad I had the opportunity to learn more about class options for the upcoming school year.”