Not all members pictured below.
The GMS Chronicle is a student-run school newspaper, started last year by current Herald writers Ivy Russel, Layla Schneider, and Sofya Hart-Sedykh with the help of Mrs. Wilds, the Grant Middle School media specialist. Now, The GMS Chronicle is mainly run by 8th grader Kristina Saylor alongside 8th grader Alaina Messmer, with the supervision of Mrs. Wilds.
Since last school year, there have been some major changes to The GMS Chronicle, Saylor explains. “Last year, there were, like, five of us [on the team],” Saylor says, going on to explain that there are a lot more people writing and helping with The Chronicle this year. Another change is that a lot more people know about the newspaper throughout the school. With more people involved in it, there are more people who know that it exists to be read.
Over the previous summer, Saylor and Wilds kept in touch, generating ideas and planning for another school year. Saylor also convinced other students to join the team, and when school started in August, The Chronicle had a grand total of 12 people writing.
Wilds expresses how talented the students writing for The Chronicle are when it comes to journalism. She tells us that this year, people are writing about more in-depth, harder-hitting topics than last year. Messmer, GMS Chronicle writer, says, “...We talk about what schools are scared to talk about…we don’t baby things or dumb things down.” But they went on to explain that they write trigger warnings before articles if necessary.
Shealyn Fassler, another 8th grade GMS Chronicle writer, says she likes being on the team because she gets to meet “people who are interested in what I’m interested in.” Saylor and Messmer both agree that being around other people who share the same interests is something that they love about The GMS Chronicle. Saylor also expresses how “free” it is to be on the team; people get to write about what they want to.
However, it’s not always fun and games. Messmer brings up the problem that they do not get enough recognition for the work they do. “You see a football player walking down the hallway and go, ‘Oh that’s a football player,’ but you see [one of us] walking down the hallway and you don’t think ‘Oh that’s a [GMS Chronicle member].” Saylor agrees, stating that it can be frustrating making such a big difference when almost no one knows who you are.