Multiple deadlines and hard work is what’s in store for staff members and editors of the Guidon as they put write stories for the school to enjoy.

“I started doing newspaper because I thought it would be fun and I thought it would help me improve my writing skills,” Co-editor Brianna Mathias said.

Students on the Guidon staff work hard to get their stories finished, and over the school year their writing skills improve.

“There are a lot of deadlines, staff reporter Sarah Rooney said. “But I’ve never had issues with any of them.”

The Guidon staff writes about one online a week, one of them being a small feature story. They also write about two features for the paper each month. Others have to write sports stories, editorials and lay out the paper.

“Getting quotes from other students is kind of tedious, but very important to my grade,” Co-Online Editor Hannah Baxter said.

The Guidon’s stories are made up of quotes and thoughts of students, all about students, so the staff must approach students and get quotes. Often, it’s hard to get the amount of quotes they need and students don’t always answer the questions or their e-mails.

“You need to get pictures of different people each time so you get to know students you didn’t know before, and you learn how to work a camera,” Photographer Elizabeth Arthur said.

Each photographer has a deadline of roughly nine photos a month plus they cover a few school events. The photographers come up with most photo ideas and are in charge of photo shopping the photos into gray scale as well as cropping.

“I love laying out the paper and writing stories, regional and state competitions, and everyone on the staff,” Mathias said. “We have a lot of fun. It’s definitely hard work, but well worth it.”

Newspaper isn’t all about writing stories, laying out pages, and doing competitions; though all of that’s nice. Everyone on staff has to work hard to get the deadlines and keep the paper going, if one person falls behind others have to step up to keep our website updated, we work together as a team.

“It takes a very special student to be a member of any publication staff,” Guidon commander Bill Gasper said. “Not only do they need to be good writers, creative thinkers, they also have a lot of courage to put their work on display for all to see.”

Gasper recruits students that he feels are responsible enough to get work done, have the necessary skills, and are brave enough to approach peers and meet their criticism.

“I’m very proud of all my publications students and what they accomplish each year,” Gasper said.

16jschaffer@usd489.com