Website Features Stories by Student Reporters
The final weeks of spring semester were filled with music performances, one-act plays, art exhibits, senior capstone presentations, and other demonstrations of the learning that took place in classes and cocurricular activities. For Media Writing and Reporting, a mass communication class taught by Visiting Professor Clara Germani, students’ final presentation of their work appeared on a website they created.
A popular class, the course is designed to give students plenty of practice writing, editing, completing photo assignments, and learning to evaluate media. The class website features stories about the people and places that are part of Principia’s past and present. Topics include the view of campus from across the Mississippi River, the history and uses of Snyder’s Barn (which was part of Principia’s original land purchase in 1930), and an interview with College Director of Athletics Pete Paciorek.
After brainstorming story ideas, junior Laura Cluthé decided to document the view of Principia from across the Mississippi. Her photography led her to front yards and docks in Portage des Sioux, where she met and interviewed locals to learn what Principia looks like to them. “I had no connections to anyone in the town, so I did my research to find good sources,” Laura explains. Her persistence paid off when she met Terry Green, a resident with an unobstructed view of Principia from his house. Walking to the river’s edge, they could clearly see the Chapel, Voney Art Center, Hutchinson House, and Lowrey House. “I love hearing the Chapel bells ring when I am out in the yard doing work,” Green told Laura. “And I can also see the Chapel when it is lit up at night, which is very beautiful.”
In addition to collecting interesting stories, students honed their interviewing, writing, revising, and editing skills. “Students schlepped back to their sources many times to answer editing questions,” Germani says. Then, with sophomore Sarah Geis taking the lead in developing the Wix website, students published their stories.
“I absolutely loved this experience and enjoyed improving my reporting skills through the process,” says Laura, an art major with a keen interest in photography and photojournalism. Laura regularly contributes photos for the Pilot, the College’s student-run magazine, and is a part-time photographer for Principia’s Marketing Department. She will work in Boston this summer as a photography intern at The Christian Science Monitor.
Read students’ work on the class's website.