Publications is an English elective offered at HAHS where students write for the newspaper, Hawk Happenings, and help design the yearbook.
I am currently in 11th grade at HAHS, and I entered as a freshman into Hamburg Area High School new to the district. Before the school year began, I met with my guidance counselor to discuss courses and elective choices. I had a list of all the electives offered at HAHS with brief descriptions and publications on that list. I learned that it was a writing class, and since I enjoyed and was good at writing I thought I would enjoy the class. The other thing that interested me was the opportunity to learn how to design the yearbook and be a part of something significant to the entire school. I am so thankful for that decision and have taken publications every year since then and I plan to continue my entire high school career. I have learned so much and I noticed my writing skills have improved as well as I really enjoyed learning all the processes of the publications class with the newspaper and the Pinnacle.
Hailey Quinn, a junior at HAHS, first took publications her sophomore year. She first heard about the class from a friend, Amelia Gassert, whose sister took publications and really enjoyed it. The Pinnacle was the most intriguing aspect of the publications class for Hailey. She was still excited to be a part of Hawk Happenings, but she was most looking forward to the yearbook. Hailey chose environmental science as one of her electives freshman year and really enjoyed that so she does not regret not joining publications sooner because it allowed her to take a variety of electives. Haily does not believe joining sophomore year had hindered her success in the class, so it is never too late to join. One of her favorite parts of the class is that Mrs. McCarthy plans the entire year ahead and gives all the assignments and their due dates within the first week of school. This allows Hailey and other students to plan ahead and be organized. Many students in the class work on different sections of the Pinnacle and Hailey really enjoys working on it all year and seeing it come all together in the end. Taking publications has allowed her to meet new people and the library allows for collaborating and coming up with new creative ideas. This is her second year in publications and will most likely choose to take it again her senior year. Hailey says it is comforting to have a familiar class when she is in a lot of classes that are new and unfamiliar. Hailey adds, “If you’re debating on taking the class, I suggest you go for it, because it’s a good experience even if you don’t continue and take it every year of high school.”
LeeAnn Mills, a senior at HAHS, joined the publications class as a junior. She wants to pursue a career in writing, therefore she wanted to take extra classes that were English related. At the time she joined publications, she was unsure what field of writing she wanted to pursue, either creative or informational. So she decided to join publications to try new things and see what she liked. LeeAnn was looking at the HAHS class handbook under the English section when she discovered publications. LeeAnn really regrets not joining publications sooner and says, “However, as a freshman during orientation I didn’t pay much attention to the presenter representing publications. I remember her being flat-voiced and unenthusiastic that might have something to do with my late enrollment as well.” She does not have a specific favorite part of the class. She says that every part is her favorite because she truly loves the class. The office-like environment, the perfect teacher, free-range writing, awesome assignments, and a creative space for work are some of the things that LeeAnn enjoys about the class. LeeAnn is an avid writer and that has helped improve her writing skills, but the publications have helped with that as well. Her graphic design and technical skills have improved drastically since taking the class. LeeAnn concludes that publications is her favorite class and a safe space for her. When she is there, she never wants to leave. She loves the assignments and the work is fun and inspiring for her.
