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12/04/2019 07:30 AMGraduating with a master’s degree in educational technology from Boise State University, Emilia Caturano has the skills and the drive to help East Haven High School journalism students deliver more news to their community.
She says the curricula for her degree, which included creating websites, writing code, and exploring other cutting-edge technology as an academic resource, was the perfect background for taking a leadership role with the high school’s newspaper, The Comet.
In addition to the journalism class, for which creating The Comet is the major focus, Emilia teaches freshman English, SAT prep, and creative writing in the spring.
“When it fell into my lap, I thought it was the perfect opportunity,” Emilia says.
A departure from previous paper publications, The Comet has moved to an online server, publishing articles once a month.
“We have made The Comet more 21st century, incorporating news and media from across the school,” Emilia says. “It’s not just having printed articles. It offers more timely updates. It includes having social media accounts, branding, and marketing.”
Articles in The Comet are written primarily by students in Emilia’s journalism class, but they can choose to write for the paper on a year-round basis by taking her class again as an independent study.
Other students who are interested in writing for the paper can do so as guest writers.
The journalism class is considered a capstone-style course, which meets specific criteria for graduating juniors and seniors to demonstrate a culmination of their knowledge or ability “to access information, problem solve, and communicate effectively,” Emilia says.
“So, through the course they can obviously do that very well,” she adds. “They get people to answer questions, answer emails, and investigate things that are going on. They problem solve when issues arrive and conduct research to get background details.”
Based on the fast-paced nature of the course, most juniors and seniors who have a “basic background in writing and more of an understanding of the different styles of writing,” have the most success writing for The Comet, she says.
Most of the articles are produced within a two-week time frame, which adds to the workload of students who take about five to six other classes, according to Emilia.
Although she heads up the class, “I feel like I am their advisor more than anything. They take on a lot of responsibility. I just make sure things are running smoothly,” she says.
Overall, the students writing for the paper work as a team, conducting staff meetings where final decisions are made on which articles are ready for publication.
“The goal is for them to be independent thinkers, learners, people,” Emilia says.
The encouragement of independent thinking has allowed some students to go above and beyond the expected requirements.
“I had a group, about two years ago, incredibly motivated to try new things,” Emilia says.
In addition to reaching different audiences through social media, this group started a “Buzz of the Week” video, the name being a play on the school’s yellow jacket mascot.
“They were producing an entire video on top of writing,” Emilia says. “Getting to see [my students] take charge and be excited about something that is in school and trying to get other people motivated, it has been very rewarding.”
Topics for articles vary, but typically showcase happenings at the high school and those that are relevant to the student community.
“Students enjoy writing opinion editorials on a movie or album that they have seen or heard that they really liked or disliked,” Emilia says, while others are “writing about local and national sports such as the World Series [including] a ‘how to’ guide for people who don’t watch baseball.”
Emilia’s plans for The Comet include holding students, and herself, to the high standards of her predecessor, Jacqueline Albis, who recently retired after 20 years as an English teacher.
“I think that she brought a sense of rigor and focus to the program that really made it a place of excellence,” Emilia says. “As I move forward, I aim to not only keep up the sense of rigor and excellent writing, but incorporate even more of East Haven High School.”
Emilia believes the digital platform, which enables students to publish articles more frequently than the quarterly printed version, will help her achieve her goal of increased content.
This is Emilia’s seventh year of teaching at East Haven High School, after earning a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and English from Southern Connecticut State University.
The supportive environment in which teachers “are always ready and willing to talk and give ideas” to one another has positively influenced her career, says Emilia.
And her greatest reward is seeing her students, who “are incredibly passionate in so many different ways” succeed through The Comet with “positive interactions. It fills me with happiness because the East Haven community is so supportive.”
Check in with The Comet at www.ehhscomet.com.