Gphs Club Column - tHE sCROLL

The Scroll - cLUB column

By Milan Geurin

Chances are you’ve heard of the vast amount of clubs here at Grants Pass High School, but for those of you who are interested, it’s a challenge to put yourself out there to learn more information. Through these columns, I hope to educate students further on the variety of clubs to be a part of here at GPHS, and give some clubs the recognition they deserve. All while providing answers to a few essential questions regarding these clubs, such as: Who are they? What do they do? Why should I join? How/Where do I join? Through answering these questions, I hope to broaden students perceptions of the clubs here at GPHS. In this issue of the GPHS Club Column I'll be writing about The Scroll club.

Okay, so elephant in the room: yes, I am writing a column on my own club. Never fear, I shall provide both an informational-based perspective, in addition to an experience-based perspective. The Scroll is Grants Pass High School’s student-run school newspaper. If you remember from last year, there were stands around GPHS that had the physical monthly newspaper issues in them at the start of every month. These newspapers provided a wide-array of content. Anywhere from analytical reports on current events to opinion-based articles regarding the recent internet trends. Although, with the recent retirement of The Scroll’s previous adviser, Zottola, the club fell into the hands of English and Speech teacher Mrs. Tyrrell. With her management, The Scroll has now gone digital, and no longer utilizes the traditional paper-newspaper layout. The club has experienced many trials and tribulations with the transition, hence the consistent changes going on regarding where they’re now publishing their digital newspaper issues; nevertheless, The Scroll has persisted and begins anew on a Google Sites application layout.

The Scroll is a journalism-based club, meaning that students will be required to write, or contribute to the production and content of The Scroll’s monthly issues in some significant way. Scroll members have the responsibility of writing at least one article a month to contribute to the newspaper in order to be an official member and earn the Journalism credit. Yes, you can earn Journalism credit by just being an active contributor to The Scroll. However, it’s purely up to Tyrrell’s speculation which members have truly earned the credit. The Scroll isn’t limited to just writing informative articles, though. Members of The Scroll have a lot of options for what they could contribute to The Scroll. Club members write about a variety of topics in a variety of ways. Anything from reports about what’s happening around GPHS campus, poetry, comedic pieces, satire, opinions on movies, and much, much more. Alternatively, there are also positions like being an editor, photojournalist/photographer, cartoonist, and even a sports reporter. Now that The Scroll has gone digital, it has made more room for creative-liberty and experimentation with the monthly digital newspapers. These new digital additions include, and aren’t limited to, the following: podcasts, polls, surveys, online Storycorps (basically, interviews with other people about their lives), and more easily-accessible advice columns. Overall, The Scroll is actually a very open-minded club that strives to value all sorts of creative labors and talents relevant to journalism. The variety of what students can contribute to The Scroll is broad and ever-growing. While a bit unstructured at the moment due to the drastic changes, the club resiliently persists in the production of The Scroll newspapers that GPHS knows and loves. It’s a great place to express and write about topics that students are passionate about. Not just having a teacher telling them what to write about.

With that, it’s time to get into where and how students can join The Scroll. There are actually two optional classes taught by Mrs. Tyrrell that GPHS students can take. These classes are Journalism I and Journalism II. Both involve learning a variety of different writing styles, and an exploration of the individual student’s passion for writing.This way, if individuals are scared to throw themselves into The Scroll right away, they can first experiment through Journalism class. Besides those optional classes, joining the club is extremely straight-forward. All a student has to do is communicate to the club’s advisor, Mrs. Tyrrell, about wanting to join and prove that they’re serious by explaining an article idea or position the student wishes to become, and bam! That easy. In addition, students can just show up to one of the two monthly Scroll meetings to see if it is their thing or not. The Scroll has meetings in room 235 with Mrs. Tyrrell on the second Wednesday of every month during lunch. There’s an additional after-school club meeting on the third Friday of every month from 3:30 to around 4:30 pm (students are able to leave at any time). If these details seem confusing, then students are also free, and encouraged, to utilize The Scroll Contact Information page located on the Scroll article websites for any meeting dates and further inquiries. Students also have the option of asking Tyrrell directly about the club during her down-time (such as lunch, before school, and after school).

With that, I hope you consider joining The Scroll club. We're always hungry for any new ideas, innovations, and improvements we can integrate to make The Scroll better to read for everyone. Our team is small, but passionate and welcoming. We're in need for basically every position, so come one come all!