Student of the Month Story

Who- Freshman Aurora Rochin
What- April Student of the Month
Where- Bowie High School
When- Recently
Why- Because of academic and after school excellence
How- Administration chose

    On Monday, April 4th, a new student was chosen as the April Student of the Month.

    Freshman Aurora Rochin was chosen by the Bowie Student Council for excellent performance in and out of school.  When the council chooses the new Student of the Month, they look at 3 things: grades, afterschool activities, and how the student acts with other Bowie students.

    Rochin was the clear choice to be Student of the Month. "She excelled in each requirement to be a Student of the Month and was just amazing anyway," Student Council principal Ashley Hielman said.

    We asked Rochin how it felt being the Student of the Month. "I feel great and surprised (that I was chosen), but I feel like I am going to be the worst Student of the Month ever," Rochin said.

    To be even considered for Student of the Month the student has to be involved in after school activities. "We didn't want to choose the Student of the Month solely on grades, because that's not what school is. There is more to school than just grades," Student Council Secretary Jeremy Espina.

    Rochin is active at school even after the 4:20 bell. "I do a lot of homework, tutor my friends, and do some JROTC activities after school," Rochin said.

    Being the Student of the Month is not celebrity-status, but it still is a pretty exciting award. "I was shocked and was so happy when I heard I was the new Student of the Month. I felt so proud of myself," previous Student of the Month Julie Andrews said.

    Having extra activities, or even just wanting to do other activities, makes doing your school work a lot harder. "I put schoolwork before of activities, and I motivate myself by telling myself that after I finish my homework I can do those activities I like," Rochin said.

    We always ask each new Student of the Month how they study. "I listen to music, it helps me focus. I need something in the background going on to study. I also work on schoolwork one at a time." Rochin said.

Inverted Pyramid

My First Interview

1. Aurora Rochin
2. 9th grade
3. I feel great and surprised, but I feel like I'm going to be the worst SOTM ever.
4. I think I am the student of the month because I put myself out there, and I make my presence clear. The other people just knew when I came in I was SOTM.
5. I think the SOTM is chosen by how well the student does in class and with other students.
6. I do a lot of homework, tutor my friends, and do some JROTC activities after school.
7. Tutoring helps people, and that makes me feel good and proud of myself. I like JROTC because it makes me more disciplined.
8. I put schoolwork before of activities, and I motivate myself by telling myself that after I finish my homework I can do those activities I like.
9. I get As, Bs only occasionally.
10. Sleep, it helps so much. Also actually study, put in effort into your classes, don't be a slacker.
11. I listen to music, it helps me focus. I need something in the background going on to study. I also work on schoolwork one at a time. Except when I rush, then I multitask.
12. I am best at English and Math. They are also my favorite classes.
13. I was great already, I haven't changed much.
14. Anti-climatic. I was expecting a parade, streamers, handwritten letter from the president, and 3 million dollars.
15. I get no extra recognition, my friends don't care and others don't know me.
16. (Dang it), now I have to do an interview. Who in their right mind would choose me?
17. I was actually forced, it was kind of survival of the fittest, you have to do well in school. Flying Spaghetti Monster
18. I remind myself that if I don't do my work, I won't be able to sleep well.
19. I feel important, but who is going to read this and knows me?
20. Being less of a procrastinator, because I still procrastinate once in a while.

Extra quote: "Nothing is impossible once you make it possible, and you also don't die."

Student of the Month Interview

20 questions I could ask:

1. What is your name?
2. What grade are you in?
3. How do you feel about being the student of the month?
4. Why do you think you are student of the month?
5. How is the student of the month chosen?
6. What kinds of activities do you do after school?
7. What do you like about those activities?
8. How did you balance your activities and schoolwork?
9. What kinds of grades do you get on average?
10. What tips do you have for ways to keep your grades up?
11. How do you study?
12. What class do you do the best in?
13. How have you changed since becoming student of the month?
14. How would you describe being student of the month?
15. What amount of recognition do you get now more than before?
16. What went through your mind after learning you were student of the month?
17. What was your motivation to become student of the month?
18. How did you overcome procrastination?
19. How do you feel about being in the newspaper?
20. What do you still have to work on?

School Uniforms

a) 3 sources I could interview are:

1. A member of the school board.
2. A teacher
3. A principal

b)  20 questions I could ask are:

1. What is your name?
2. What do you think of the board's decision for uniforms?
3. Why did the board decide for mandatory school uniforms?
4. When will the policy take effect?
5. How will students obtain their uniforms?
6. How will the policy be enforced?
7. What days will uniforms be mandatory?
8. How much would a uniform cost?
9. How will each uniform differ from each other?
10. How much would this cost the district?
11. What will be the consequences of not wearing a uniform?
12. What will the uniform consist of?
13. What do you say to the people who are against this policy?
14. How will teachers and staff be affected by this policy?
15. What are the positive aspects of mandatory uniforms?
16. What are the negative aspects of mandatory uniforms?
17. What was your first thought upon hearing of school uniforms?
18. How will sports and after-school activities be changed?
19. What will happen when it is too hot to wear the uniform?
20. How have students and parents reacted to tis policy?

Architecture Shoot

Details

Light

Patterns

Angles and Shapes

Surroundings

Portfolio Analysis - how judges pick winning portfolios and sports photos

Part I

1) 

    a. Travis Haughton

    b. Kids

    c. The frame was too tight, what was the point of the photo, and a little too much of little kids

    d. The point of view on the sports pictures, and in the gymnastics photo there was a lot going on.

    e. I thought that he was alright, though I agreed that he needed to zoom out a little on some of his photos. His point of views were interesting though.

    a. Nick Adams

    b. Sports

    c. Not enough story, frame too tight, focus off in 1 picture.

    d. Some pictures were close to be good, certain photo had good framing. 

    e. I thought he was pretty good, with all of his good ideas, but some of the photos I didn't get the story behind it.

    a. Jordan Murph

    b. Sports

    c. Some photos were missing something, some photos didn't fit in, 1 photo story was completely different and worse than others.

    d. Good composition, good lighting

    e. At the beginning when he showed his best, I knew immediately that his photos were just generally a lot better, but at the end he kinda killed his chances by putting too many photos and showed bad photos.

2)

    a. He is upright in there in the middle of it, everyone is doing something, and his photos are creative.

    b. I thought on some of the photos he had great point of view and that his photos were creative and different. They all had a story, and I can't see a general weakness.

3)

    a. They looked at the ones that they looked at before and considered them to maybe be the winner, then they eliminated one because they had messed up some of their photos, then they got rid of the other one because it didn't have enough diversity. So, feeling, are there bad photos, it is diverse enough?

Part II

1. 

2. 

Architecture Preview

Atomium, Belgium

1. Who is the architect? André Waterkeyn.

2. When was it built? It was built in 1958.
3. Where is it located? It is located in Brussels, Belgium.
4. Is it a private building or can you visit it? Anyone can visit it.
5. Is there information on how much it cost to build? No, not that I could find.
6. Is there a reason the building was created or the history of the building itself? It was build for the 1958 World Fair.
7. Why did you pick this building? I picked this building because it sounded really interesting. I also had heard some about Belgium but never seen a good photo of it, so I chose the Atomium as a way I could see Belgium a little bit more. "Atomium" also sounds really scientific, and I love science.

Burj Al Arab. Dubai, UAE

1. Who is the architect? Tom Wright
2. When was it built? 1999
3. Where is it located? Dubai, UAE
4. Is it a private building or can you visit it? You can visit it.
5. Is there information on how much it cost to build? $650,000
6. Is there a reason the building was created or the history of the building itself? The client wanted a building that would become an iconic or symbolic statement for Dubai.
7. Why did you pick this building? I picked it because a kid kept saying about how Dubai was really cool and all of these things so I decided to pick Dubai just for that reason.

Hundertwasserhaus, Austria

1. Who is the architect? Josef Krawina, but Friedensreich Hundertwasser was the designer.
2. When was it built? 1983-1985
3. Where is it located? Vienna, Austria, actually
4. Is it a private building or can you visit it? You can visit it.
5. Is there information on how much it cost to build? No.
6. Is there a reason the building was created or the history of the building itself? It was created by Hundertwasser because he wanted to try and make a building in harmony with nature and man.
7. Why did you pick this building? I picked it because I had been in Germany, but I guess now I know its not in Germany.

Turning Torso, Sweden

1. Who is the architect? Santiage Calatrava
2. When was it built? 2005
3. Where is it located? Malmo, Sweden
4. Is it a private building or can you visit it? You can visit it, but only on special days and on certain floors.
5. Is there information on how much it cost to build? Yes, About 242 million Euros.
6. Is there a reason the building was created or the history of the building itself? It was created as a new symbol for the city of Malmo.
7. Why did you pick this building? I picked this building because I thought it sounded really interesting.

Habitat 67, Canada

1. Who is the architect? Moshe Safdie
2. When was it built? It was built in 1967.
3. Where is it located? Montreal, Canada
4. Is it a private building or can you visit it? You can visit it.
5. Is there information on how much it cost to build? 17 million Canadian.
6. Is there a reason the building was created or the history of the building itself? It was created with the purpose of making affordable housing in urban areas with a decent amount of space. Suburb house in an urban setting.
7. Why did you pick this building? I picked this building because I have went to Canada before. It also sounds a little weird, so I wanted to see it.

Action Photo Shoot

Luke is running away from a crashed vehicle.  The vehicle crashed because of a drunk driver who went the wrong way on the road.

Luke tiredly jogs in the courtyard. He is not eager to jog this early in the morning.

Luke runs with a burst of speed. He is determined to not make taking this photo a walk in the park.

Luke blurs out of clear vision with his running. Extreme novice photographer Rami A. managed to catch this blurred speed.

Sensory Overload

The last sentence of the story says:

"I believe that more and more, we are defining our environments not as the spaces themselves, in terms of the buildings or architecture, but rather by the objects and devices that we buy and surround ourselves with. ... I would like that message to carry through universally," Seymour said.

1. I think that he is not wrong, but he is not completely right. People still do define their environments by the architecture of the place, but just not as much. This made me feel that props might have more impact on a photo than I might think.

2. Maybe the outside of each individual stall, a row of them, or the kids playing or what it looks like near the stalls but not inside.

3. I think I would consider everything normal, and maybe help them a little bit with the shop when I am young and take over a little bit when I am older.

4. I like the photo with all of the artificial flowers because there are so many colors in that one and there is a nice little middle line.

Outside Prompt Shoot

Please do NOT submit this.

My Newspaper Design