As our world turns to one fueled by advancements in technology and social media abilities, I think it is important that journalists do the same. Having an online presence has allowed our publications to gain more traction, have more community input and inclusion, and helps our staff learn digital marketing skills.
Website design and accessibility
As Online Design and Graphics Editor of Westside Wired, our online news website, I am in charge of creating new banners for the website, creating graphics and taking photos for stories when needed, and overall keeping Wired up to date and organized design wise.
Example of banner I designed for the Wired website.
Wired banners created for January, February and March
Graphic of a graduate holding both a pom-pom and a stethoscope representing the different paths mentioned in the artical.
Pickle-Ball tournament story paired with a photo I took of the event. The photo was also included in the Yearbook.
Wired is organized so people can easily find what they are looking for. When scrolling on the website, they can find sections such as Feature, Arts & Entertainment, Opinion and many more. We also have tabs for Photo Galleries, Sports Stories, WTV Videos and Live Streams.
We allow online access to The Lance via Wired. We understand people may be interested in the Lance but do not have the ability to get a physical copy. Having access to our publications online helps us reach a broader audience.
utilizing social media
sharing important info
With nearly 3,000 followers across the accounts, the Westside Wired and Westside Shield Instagram pages are ideal for spreading important information regarding all things Westside. I use the accounts to post my personal designed graphics, alongside other student's works, to create posts students are guaranteed to see.
Announcement posted on Instagram regarding the purchasing of a Senior Ad.
Instagram post regarding Senior Photo information for the Yearbook. I created the post from scratch using Canva.
Explaining requirements for Senior Photos being sent in. I used real life examples of both mine and a fellow yearbook staff member.
Explaining what we do not want regarding Senior Photos being sent in. I used real life examples of both mine and a fellow yearbook staff member.
Reminding students to vote for Teacher Superlatives
Encouraging students and others in the Westside community to attend the State Football Championship game.
Reminding students and parents to purchase a Senior Ad before the deadline.
Reminding students and parents to order their yearbooks before the deadline.
Collaboration is key
In order to reach an even large group of people, we often use the collaboration tool on Instagram to make shared posts between other Westside affiliated accounts. For example, we use the tool to post reminders about showing up to sport events with Red Shield, our school's student section leaders. I also use the collaboration tool when posting my own photo galleries of Westside events. Doing so helps grow my personal audience of the people in the Westside community.
An example of what posts look like when I share my photography via Instagram. I share my photos across all three accounts (Wired, Shield and my personal) in order to reach as many people as possible.
Shared post between Wired and Red Shield, our student section leaders.
giving ourselves a pat on the back
We also use our Social Media to celebrate the Westside Journalism Department's accomplishments and updates. When we place in competitions, go on JEA Conventions or local events, we make sure to keep our community updated! It is important to show the people behind the publications and share the fun side of being in journalism. We also like to show behind the scenes of the work different publications are doing.
This is the photo that accompanied the Columbia post. We wanted to share our accomplishment and let others in the Westside community see what good we can do.
I often post behind the scenes clips of WTV interviews and filming times in order to allude to upcoming broadcasts.
We like to give people a sneak peak of the book before we distribute. Posting updates on the release of the book helps people stay engaged.
After we received the results from the 2025 Nebraska JEA Winter Contest, we posted our winners on social media to congratulate our department.
SHOWING WHAT'S NEW
Social Media has grown to be a place where we can not only bring attention to upcoming events, we can also show the exciting things going on at Westside. We can post photos of sport events, student life, performing arts and general updates of the school. For example, during Homecoming Week, we posted photos of Homecoming Court and posted people dressed up for the spirit weeks each day. We also posted on our story asking people to send photos in.
I posted photos that were either taken by me/journalism staff members or sent in by students. This was Adam Sandler day.
Pajama Day!
Bikers vs Surfers day!
After the 2024 Homecoming Court was announced, I created a post with every candidate. I did separate posts for Kings and Queens.
I created the template from scratch on Canva and used photos of each student that I was asked to take by the administrators that run the program.
class of 2025 decisions page
I decided to create a Instagram account to share senior's college decisions. I created a Google Form for students to share their post high school destination, intended major, and sport if applicable. They also send me a photo to use. I then design a post with the logo of the college and the other information the students provided.
Congrats Sienna! Sienna will be attending The University of New Haven to study Marina Biology and play Lacrosse.
Congrats Piper! Piper will be attending Lehigh University to study Political Science and Wrestle.
Congrats Mason! Mason will be attending Midland University to study Sports Management and Wrestle.
Instagram Account Home Page
AUTOGRAPH PRANK ON TEACHERS
We found old photographs of different teachers in our school and asked them to sign the printed copy of the photo. However, they did not know the photo was there until they were asked to flip the paper over. We were inspired by a Tik Tok Trend. Some teachers had better reactions than others. Some were embarrassed while others were confused about how we found their pictures. Because these videos took a couple days to film, word began to spread about my fellow staff member and I. When teachers saw us coming, holding a paper, pen and camera, they knew what was coming.
TEACHER'S ADVICE TO THE SENIOR CLASS
Following a trend seen on Tik Tok, I wanted to make a video of teachers giving hand written advice to the Senior Class. Students seeing these messages saw and felt the bittersweet emotions that come with graduating high school.
SENIOR SUPERLATIVES
While we include Senior Superlatives in the yearbook, we also make posts on our social media accounts to share the winners with the Westside community. When people came in to take their photos, I also asked them to wear paper crowns and pose for our video.
TEACHER SUPERLATIVES
As a student ran publication, we sometimes find ourselves covering more students than staff. To help include all people within our school, I created "Teacher Superlatives". I curated a list of questions such as, "Best Style, Most Patient, Best Story Tellers, Most Likely To Be Late To Class and many more. I worked with an administrative staff member to get the list of all 200+ faculty members in the school and created a Google Form. The form was sent out to all students and after one week, I was able to pull the final results and award the faculty members their superlatives. I printed out certificates and hand wrote each teachers name and what they won. When the staff were surprised to hear of their winnings, I could tell they felt happy and appreciated and that is what we strive for.
