An Interview with Instructor Allison Armstrong

Q. Why did you choose to teach a writer’s workshop?

A. The head of Middle School was thoughtful enough to give the choice of a few electives and that one seemed like one that I would love because it falls into an area that I consider a strength… I like writing. I am familiar with it.

Q. Do you find most students enjoy the journalism unit in particular?

A. This is my first time teaching the class and it is a small group and I think there are elements of it that they enjoy but I personally would do things differently to make it more interesting. Some students really like it and some students really want to get on to creative writing.

Q. When doing the journalism unit, how did you decide on which stories to cover? 

A. I made it totally open to the student’s choice, to what interested them as long as we could create a fairly well rounded page. I said it would be good to have one thing that is politics or news related so someone picks either local or national, international or military or something like that. Someone picks something a little bit more Laguna Blanca student life so I really let student’s pick whatever they wanted to write about. 

An Interview with Instructor Jill Sonbudtasan

Q. Why did you decide to teach the journalism unit?

A. Because I’ve always seen myself as an author and a writer, the journalism unit was really just something that I was personally interested in. I think that kids in general write for school because they have to but I want them to write because they love it. 

Q. Do you teach your students journalism ethics?

A. Yes, that’s really the beginning of how we start, kind of the nuts and bolts but also the responsibilities is something that we focused on. 

Student Spotlight with Hadleigh Bolton ‘27

Q. What sparked your interest in journalism?

A. Well, I’ve always been interested in creative writing, but journalism is another way to improve my writing style and technique.

Q. How long have you been doing journalism?

A. Only since last summer.

Q. How did you find yourself in Writer’s Workshop?

A. I’ve always liked writing and when I saw a Writers Workshop elective, I thought it would be great because I could pursue more creative writing.

Q. Do you intend to join the Fourth Estate when you enter into high school

A. Yes. I look forward to joining the magazine and writing more.