Morgan Bricker

Advised by Ms. Bricker, Weir Student Media is seeking hardworking, creative students who want a place where they can express themselves! WSM is a student-led journalism staff responsible for creating Weir High School’s publications. Through print, video, and web, WSM students apply journalism skills to produce high-quality content that increases understanding and awareness of relevant news and current issues of importance and interest by covering the school’s diverse perspectives with accuracy, fairness, and balance. WSM publications provide an open public forum for and by the students at Weir High School.

About Ms. Bricker

Ms. Bricker grew up in Weirton and attended Weir High School, where she played softball and co-edited the literary magazine. After graduation, she went to Muskingum College where she majored in English and played softball. She lived and taught in Ohio for about ten years. In 2012, she moved back to Weirton to be closer to her family. Now, she lives in New Cumberland with her husband Michael, their five-year-old son Myles, and their dogs Lucy and Sally.

Ms. Bricker has taught journalism and advised student media programs since 2008 and earned a master’s degree in journalism education from Kent State University in 2015. When she moved back to West Virginia, she taught English and journalism and coached softball at Oak Glen High School for five years. Then, in 2017, she was transferred to Weir High School where she has taught English 11, journalism, print journalism, and video journalism as well as advised the Weir Student Media program, including the school’s newsmagazine, yearbook, video announcements, and senior video. She serves as the West Virginia State Director for the Journalism Education Association as well as a regional member of the Ohio Scholastic Media Association board.

About Weir Student Media Journalism Classes

From newswriting to sports writing, photography to videography, publication design to video editing, business marketing to web design, and more, there is something for everyone who takes journalism classes! Beyond the knowledge and skills, there are so many other benefits of taking journalism classes. A Newspaper Association of America showed that high school journalism students perform better on standardized tests, achieve higher GPAs, participate in more extracurricular activities, and earn higher grades in their first semester of college than classmates who don’t take journalism. Plus, there’s food, coffee, field trips, staff shirts, opportunities for leadership roles, resume builders, a stellar letter of recommendation from yours truly, and did we mention food and coffee?

In Ms. Bricker’s journalism classes, students aren’t just readers and writers. They’re journalists who work together as a staff to run a media program in a real-world, project-based work environment. They get the tools they need to tell the stories that matter to them, their peers, their school, and their community. They become active contributors to society, who get to express their First Amendment freedoms of speech and press every day. They make a difference.

Scholastic journalism doesn’t just create future journalists, but rather it develops capable employees and engaged citizens for any field. Whether they pursue a career in journalism or communications or not, students will emerge from Weir Student Media more informed, empathetic, well-rounded, insightful, and effective communicators.

Students can take three different journalism courses with Ms. Bricker. Journalism 1 should be taken only once as the prerequisite introductory class, but Print Journalism and Video Journalism can and should be taken as many semesters as possible!

Journalism

Journalism is an elective open to all students grades 9-12 with an interest in the media and news. Students will learn about journalism history, news and media literacy, current events, press law and ethics, interviewing and information gathering, newswriting, journalistic style, photography, videography, publication design, sales and marketing, advertising, business management, leadership, and much more. Students will have the opportunity to produce content for the school newspaper, yearbook, website, and broadcast. This course serves as a prerequisite for anyone who wishes to enroll print journalism (Newspaper I-IV, Yearbook I-IV) and video journalism.

Print Journalism (Newspaper I-IV, Yearbook I-IV)

Students in Print Journalism will employ skills acquired in Journalism and utilize profession-grade Adobe programs to produce the school newspaper, yearbook, and news website. Students will write articles, take photos at school events, design pages, sell advertisements, and more. Students will be required to work on Print Journalism tasks outside of class, including after-school staff meetings and coverage of school events. Students in advanced levels of Print Journalism will have the opportunity to serve in staff editor and manager roles.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of the Journalism course with a ‘B’ or above. A ‘B’ or above in most recent English class. Rising juniors and seniors who have not taken Journalism may acquire permission of the instructor to enroll in Print Journalism without it. Students who are deficient in credits will not be accepted into this class.

Video Journalism

Students in Journalism Video will employ journalism and multimedia skills and utilize profession-grade Adobe programs to produce the school’s daily video announcements, a weekly news show, the senior video, and various additional video projects. Students will learn script development, field and studio production, and post-production. Students will be required to work on Print Journalism tasks outside of class, including after-school staff meetings and coverage of school events. Students in advanced levels of Print Journalism will have the opportunity to serve in staff editor and manager roles.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of the Journalism course with a ‘B’ or above. A ‘B’ or above in most recent English class. Rising juniors and seniors who have not taken Journalism may acquire permission of the instructor to enroll in Video Journalism without it. Students who are deficient in credits will not be accepted into this class.