During Scholastic Journalism Week, The Sidekick went back and contacted some of the subjects of published stories to get their take on the importance of journalism and the media.

Coppell High school sophomore Colin Proctor, who runs cross country and is involved in theater, was a part of a story dealing with group stereotypes, specifically regarding the perceived masculinity of athletics and the femininity of theater.

“[Journalism] tells a story to other people,” Proctor said. “[The story] I was in was about athletics and theater, and it tells people that you can be flexible. You can do whatever you want, really. You don’t have to follow social norms. [Journalism] gives a message to the audience.”

CHS junior Aurelie Migault, one of Coppell’s state swimmers this year, was featured in a story about her swimming career.

“[Journalism] gets information out there for people who aren’t aware of what’s going on in the school,” Migault said. “It helps get the word out. For example, with [UIL state swimming championships], not many people knew about it, but journalism helped make people aware. It is important, especially in schools. Like I said, there are a lot of activities and sports that kind of go unnoticed, and I like [journalism] in school because it brings attention for people who aren’t aware of what’s going on.”

CHS senior Jeremy Basso, a former Coppell soccer player and current player for the Dallas Texans Soccer Club, was included in a sports column on why players benefit more from playing for a club team over a high school team. Since Basso is a U.S. Soccer Development Academy player, he cannot play for his school team.

“A lot of people usually ask me why I’m not able to play high school soccer, and, having the article written, it’s easier to just point them towards the article because it really does a good job of explaining why I made the decision,” Basso said. “Especially with Coppell, there’s so many things going on and so many clubs and groups of people, and so many cool things that happen in the city, that it’s hard to know all of them. Having media like this, to be able to tell everyone’s story and share the stories that you don’t usually see is really cool and interesting.”

CHS senior Sophia Olson’s role as a gymnast and coach at Texas Dreams Gymnastics in Coppell was showcased in a story about how she balances her passion and her school life.

“My sister [New Tech @ Coppell 2017 valedictorian Madison Olson] majors in journalism [at the University of Texas at Austin], so it’s always been at part of my life, just always an important thing,” Olson said. “Nowadays, lots of [journalism] online, and we don’t really pay attention too much to what’s actually being written. A lot of things come from [journalism], and we should really pay attention to that. [From] my story, I just hope people understand high school is hard but it’s doable. It’s doable to have extracurriculars and to have a job, to work for yourself. It’s possible to do something you love in high school and make a difference in people’s lives even if they’re [5-years-old].”

CHS senior Calan Cameron, an aspiring entrepreneur, shared his story about his fishing business, in which he teaches kids how to fish.

“I’ve had a lot of people around Coppell ask me about [the fishing business],” Cameron said. “The story gained me a good amount of publicity around Coppell. A lot more kids have asked me about it, and so it’s got some more people involved. With this story, we can get some more people into fishing as well, not just my business gaining publicity. News and journalism in general, it just shows what’s going on. It just shows people a different view on different topics when a new post comes out. It will give people views and thoughts and influence their thoughts.”

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