As the year closes, our staff’s seniors reflect on their time working for North Little Rock High School’s newspaper, the Blue and Gold Gazette, and offer words of advice to the remaining and new incoming staff.

“My time at the B&G Gazette has been really enjoyable. Instead of writing prompts and essays on pre determined topics, I was able to write about what I wanted. Writing has always been a kind of outlet for me. It’s something that I enjoy and am able to do for hours on end without getting bored. It’s one of the few things I’m able to fully devote my mind to and focus so I really enjoy classes that involve a lot of writing. I enjoyed the idea of being able to interview people and figure out their perspective. Ms.Nicholson has always done a really good job at teaching us while allowing us the independence to manage ourselves and that is something not a lot of other teachers have done. Overall, newspaper has been an important part of high school for me and made me want to take a journalism class and possibly join my college newspaper.”

— Cody Kyzer, Sports Editor

“The three years I’ve spent with Ms. Nicholson in journalism and newspaper have been very special to me. This classroom, my classmates, and my teacher have been like a second family to me. I may not have ever been very talkative, and I may have not been close with anyone, but this year especially, they’ve all been very supportive of who I am and who I choose to be. Ms. Nicholson is one of the best, friendliest and caring teachers you will ever meet at NLRHS. You will find a home away from home in this class, and many many wonderful friends with their own unique personalities to share. You’ll learn about the world, your city, neighborhood and school and the people there and the problems it faces. You’ll help find the truth and you’ll let the world know about it.

This would be a very good class for the underclassmen to take because it can teach you to spot the difference between real journalism and fake news, which has become a very serious problem over the last 15 years. But you will also learn to write good stories of your own, and you will meet so many interesting people with a million different stories to share with the world and with you.”

— Isabelle Newman, Copy Editor

“Since coming to NLRHS in tenth grade, I’ve been a part of journalism every year. It was my junior year that we started the Blue and Gold Gazette newspaper. I’ll never forget the friendships I’ve made throughout newspaper and all of the funny memories in class. Working together and coming up with innovative ideas to improve our newspaper while laughing about the most random things made us grow closer. I’ve learned over the past three years that if there’s one thing that will keep you going during long days and weeks of school, it’s the small classes with good company and a good teacher. That is exactly what newspaper has been for me. Although there’s been times where I was lazy and burnt out, my fellow staff members were always there to help and encourage me. I’m not the type to want to be in a lot of clubs or extracurriculars, but newspaper is definitely something I recommend to anyone looking to have that sense of community. To all my fellow staff members and Ms. Nicholson, thank you for all the good times and letting me by myself. I’ll miss this group more than anything else at NLRHS.”

— Haley Rushing, feature reporter

“During the two years of writing for the Blue and Gold Gazette Newspaper, I have gained new writing skills, new habits, and most importantly new friendships. Being on the Blue and Gold Gazette staff is more than writing and publishing papers; it is also about building a bond with a team and sharing each others personal stories. Every staff member has their own talents and the newspaper gives us opportunities to showcase those talents. I believe that joining the Blue and Gold Gazette helped me grow as a person and a writer. I started off introverted, but being surrounded by such spirited and outgoing writers helped me really break out of my shell. Watching myself grow from a student who signed up  for journalism just to fill my schedule to actually becoming the Editor-In-Chief is an achievement that I’ll never forget.”

— Brianna Young, Editor-in-Chief

“My time as a feature reporter for the Blue and Gold Gazette has been an unforgettable experience. I have experienced different scenarios that real journalists have gone through while writing a story, such as sources not responding or having to find new sources for additional information. I have also experienced writer’s block. I have written stories and felt content with the results, even if under stress. My time on the newspaper has improved my writing skills tremendously. While I was contributing to the newspaper with my stories, I also contributed to the Spanish-speaking students by translating each story that we posted so that they would understand. There was information that they needed to know and since some do not understand English as proficient as others, I believe my work as a translator was the biggest contribution and difference I could make for the newspaper. I was not sure about applying for the newspapers at first, but I am honestly glad I did.”

–Giovanni Mendoza, Translator, Feature Reporter