'The Speaking Eagle' earns online acclaim in first year

Courtesy photo/Maria Fernanda Gomez

+ Enlarge

'The Speaking Eagle' staff took the publication online this year; since its launch the paper has received more than 11,000 hits.

DRAPER — Juan Diego Catholic High School’s journalistic effort to go online has met with great success.

In December, Soaring Eagle students took The Speaking Eagle online and already have garnered attention. Eight of the local students’ articles have been run nationally on my.hsj.org, the host website, which hosts thousands of school papers from around the country. The website was created by the American Society of News Editors and is funded by the Knight Foundation.

The Speaking Eagle’s online version started from scratch, said Erika Manternach, the paper’s advisor. At first, the students learned broad journalism topics such as what constitutes news, how to structure a story and what is needed to create a solid lead sentence. By January, they began on a regular schedule to produce news stories.

"We have eight students in the introductory class and six in the advanced class," said Manternach.

The introductory class is comprised mainly of freshmen and sophomores; the advanced class is primarily upperclassmen.

"Even though journalism was a class, it felt more like a job - like we were actual writers creating a real local newspaper, which I love because it feels like I got some real-life experience with what it’s like to work for a paper," said Libby Allnatt, features editor for The Speaking Eagle. "I’ve really enjoyed being able to be a part of the school paper this year. I loved being able to see the process articles go through before they are published."

News editor Maria Fernanda Gómez shares those feelings. "I am very proud to be a member of the newspaper," she said. "We have a wonderful working environment and receive a lot of support from everyone in the community. The best part about being a member is that I have the power to hopefully influence people’s opinions by writing on the need for comprehensive immigration reform or the importance of staying away from alcohol."

Since its launch, The Speaking Eagle has received more than 11,000 hits. "Just last week one of our stories got 1,400 hits," said Manternach.

"I think it’s important to have the Eagle paper at Juan Diego because we’re responsible for delivering news to the students and other readers. We try to cover a wide variety of topics, from school events, to hot topics, to opinion pieces. Through our writing, our voice is heard," said Allnatt.

To see The Speaking Eagle go to http://www.jdchs.org and click on The Speaking Eagle link.

The staff of The Speaking Eagle paper was formed by: Libby Allnatt, features editor; Courtney Leonard, editor in chief; Maranda Lebrecht, sports editor; Ben Bradford, editorial editor; Maria Fernanda Gómez, news editor; Emily Bruder, Antonio DeHerrera, Wyatt Haines, Clayton Kreeser, Hel Meckl, Shannon Smith, Bailey Ward, Angela Pettersen and Jackie Anderson.