Guide Staff Policies

Editorial Policy

The yearbook includes student-centered content that is created, edited, and produced by students on the Guide staff. Students are instructed on journalistic ethics and the prevention of libel and plagiarism each year. Ultimately, they are responsible for collecting, researching, writing and producing the final copy for publishers. Efforts are made to produce a perfect book, though errors may happen. These are not intentional and the Guide staff regrets when they make it to the final, published version of the book.

Plagiarism

I (Mrs. Swearingen) take plagiarism VERY seriously in this class. Due to the nature of what we do in this class (creating a publication that is seen by students, teachers, administration, and the wider community), plagiarism will not be tolerated. This includes using any form of AI to produce content for you. If you are caught plagiarizing a story, photograph, layout, etc., there will be serious consequences. Here is the process I will follow the first time* you are caught plagiarizing: I will call your parent/guardian to notify them about the plagiarism, I will notify the administration and your guidance counselor about the incident, I will meet with you independently to discuss the incident, and you will be required to redo the assignment for 50% of your earned score. The best policy is to see if me if you are in doubt. If you ask me whether or not something is plagiarized, I will evaluate it and then, if necessary, help you fix it to eliminate the plagiarism.

*For subsequent incidents of plagiarism, I will arrange meeting(s) with you, your parent/guardian, guidance counselor, and/or administration to discuss whether this class is a good fit for you. 

Name Changes

For a student to change their name in the yearbook, they must complete the Yearbook Name Change Request Form (accessible via previous link) and go through the confirmation process. All name changes require parental approval for any student who is enrolled at Ashland High School each year. (NOTE: This includes for a student whose given name is Christopher but wants to be referred to as Chris in the yearbook.)

Death of a Student

In the case of the death of a student, a one-time 1 page memoriam will be offered to the parent. This can be printed in the book on the year of the parent’s choosing.