By Rusty Nixon Correspondent
PLYMOUTH — You’d think you were in any other newsroom, except for one thing – there’s only one person in the room who’s had their 16th birthday.
It’s the newsroom at Lincoln Jr. High’s Red Storm Alert. Under the direction of Charles Ratliff, the 27 staff members of the school paper have turned the computer lab into news central for a half an hour every Monday and Friday. During bonus period reporters, photographers, and designers bustle in and out, gathering the next issues stories, just like they do in every newsroom in the country.

“They have their press passes and reporters notebooks and they get out and gather the stories,” said Ratliff of his staff. “They check with teachers for interviews on stories and photos and get it all together.”
Ratliff has also let his students develop their own nose for news.
“They come up with most of the story ideas,” said Ratliff, as reporters fly by asking questions and bustling off to gather their stories. “If they come up with a good idea they get to run with it. Our kids are involved with so many things they really know what’s going on. I encourage them to get involved and take leadership roles.”
Part of that leadership involves teaching other members of the news crew what’s involved.
Karla Rosas puts her design skills to use laying out pages with her staff of fellow designers. Gina Rodeghero is the copy chief catching errors before they reach print, while managing editor Yadira Perez and news editor Dani Letsinger give direction for what stories to chase.
Miriah Bowen has her finger on the pulse of sports around the school, Ashley Combs has a flare for features, Branton Leazenby an eye for photos and Jackson Garrison has just proved to be an all around news hound.
Along with their staffs this news crew also is on the cutting edge. With the help of Darian Sarna and Ella Portteus, online editors, the crew also puts together an online edition in blog form.
“They found as we were doing this that there were a lot of stories that needed to be told right away and couldn’t wait for the next issue,” said Ratliff. “That’s why we came up with the blog. It lets them explore another type of writing and gets those stories out now.”
Anyone can access the site at ljhredstorm.blogspot. com and find out the breaking news for Lincoln Jr. High.
“Online we only allow them to publish a student’s first name and last initial in a story,” said Ratliff. “We just felt it was a way to give a little safety in the internet environment.”
“You learn what questions to ask and what not to ask,” said reporter Mandie Smith, making sure that her name was spelled correctly for this story. “You don’t want to ask personal questions.”
Ethics are also on the mind of photo editor Leazenby.
“You’re a citizen first and a reporter second,” he said. “If somebody’s hurt you don’t start taking pictures until you help them.”
“I think it’s made a difference in other writing,” said Ratliff. “I’ve noticed that a lot of mistakes they were making in Language Arts they’re picking up on themselves now and making those corrections.”