2010-2011 Staff    

Advisor: Mrs. Margot Day    

Matt Bowman, Columnist    

Cassie Cavazos    

Carlee Grunder, Assistant Designer    

Emily Hayes    

Marvin Herter    

Nicole Jurgersen, Columnist    

Courtney Kiser, Business Manager    

Abbi Leathers, Assistant Designer    

Wes Moeller, Assistant Editor    

Kimberly Sloan, Website Editor    

Melanie Walde, Business Manager    

Kayleigh Whitman    

Dylan Stepleton    

Haley Harbit    

Mission Statement     

    

The Beaver Tale is an official, monthly publication of Wilton High School.  Our staff is responsible for every aspect of production, including researching, reporting, advertising, design, photography, pagination, and anything else necessary to serve our readers.  The mission of The Beaver Tale is to accurately, truthfully, and professionally report on events and issues that are important to our readers and present them in a way that is informative and entertaining, while upholding professional standards of English and journalism.      

“There is a terrific disadvantage in not having the abrasive quality of the press applied to you daily. Even though we never like it, and even though we wish they didn’t write it, and even though we disapprove, there isn’t any doubt that we could not do the job at all in a free society without a very, very active press.” – John F.  Kennedy     

Statement of Freedom

The Beaver Tale believes it is essential to preserve the freedom of the press in order to preserve a free society. Student journalists are guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution and the Iowa Student Free Expression Law the right to report on and editorialize about school, local, and national issues which affect and concern the student body without prior review or restraint. The Beaver Tale is also governed by the Wilton Community School District policy 504.3 and 504.3R1.      

Purpose

The role of The Beaver Tale is to inform, interpret and entertain through accurate and factual reports. The Beaver Tale is to serve as an educational laboratory experience for those on staff. The goal of The Beaver Tale is to cover the total school population as effectively and accurately as possible.      

Responsibility of Content

The Beaver Tale provides an open forum for student expression and the free interchange of ideas. All stories, ideas and opinions are generated by The Beaver Tale staff and do not represent the views of the adviser, teachers, administration, Board of Education, or the overall student body of Wilton High School.  The student editor(s) decide on content, interview sources, write and edit articles, create layouts, and carry out the tasks involved in managing a newspaper. The student editor(s) will also adopt a mission statement before the first issue each year explaining the objectives of the publication and the standards that will govern the publication’s relationship with its audience.      

The Beaver Tale will strive to be accurate, fair, impartial, and responsible in its coverage of issues that affect the school community. A marked distinction will be maintained between news and opinion articles. All news articles will be free of bias and opinion, and all opinion articles will present arguments that are based on fact, rather than speculation. The Beaver Tale does not criticize policy without providing for solutions or alternatives. The Beaver Tale will endeavor to provide a chance for comment on all sides of a controversial issue in the same edition.             

The Beaver Tale will not publish any material that is obscene, libelous, and/or invasive of others’ privacy or that encourages physical disruption of school activities. The Beaver Tale will not publish any attacking material regarding individuals, religion, gender, age, mental or physical ability, ethnicity, race, culture, or lifestyle choices. The Beaver Tale will not publish any material for which there is evidence that the author is using the paper for inappropriate personal gain. The Beaver Tale will make every effort to correctly spell names and make accurate class and position identification.      

The student editor(s) reserve the right to refuse any material not deemed up to the standards that The Beaver Tale has set. The staff will not alter the meaning of quotes. The staff will not use quotes out of context. The staff members check all information, graphics, and photographs for accuracy, clarity, and conformity to publication standards. Information initially obtained secondhand will be verified and used after obtaining on-the-record sourcing. In case questions arise over specific copy as defined within this policy, the advice of a communications attorney from the Student Press Law Center is recommended. The Beaver Tale will not avoid publishing a story solely on the basis of possible dissent or controversy. Legal and financial responsibility regarding business and content matters of the publication will rest with The Beaver Tale staff.      

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor within our publication criteria are welcomed. Letters should not exceed 250 words; however, longer submissions may be considered as a guest column.  No material will be printed where content is obscene, invasive of other’s privacy, encouraging physical disruption of school activities, and/or implies libel.  The editor reserves the right to edit for grammar, length, punctuation, and clarity.  If editing is required, the letter will be sent to the author for consent.  All letters the editor will be verified by a member of the staff to determine the authenticity of the writer.  All letters to the editor become the property of the school newspaper and will not be returned.  Unsigned letters will not be published as a general rule.  Letters to the editor may be submitted to Mrs. Day’s room or e-mailed to journalism@wiltoncsd.org.      

Photos

Photos that are printed in The Beaver Tale are also subject to standards of lawful and professional journalism. Photos will not be deceptively altered, flipped, enhanced, or manipulated in a way that information is falsely portrayed. Photo illustrations will be labeled as such. Nude artwork may be published; however, pornographic images will not be published under any circumstances. Artwork represents the interpretations of the artist, not necessarily the adviser, teachers, administration, Board of Education, or the overall student body of Wilton High School.      

Pranks

A staff member who purposely uses the newspaper to embarrass the publication, staff members, the adviser, or the school district is acting unethically and would suffer serious consequences in the work world. A person who chooses to prank faces the following possible sanctions: will earn a zero for the assignment, may lose the privilege of submitting material for publishing in the newspaper and instead will be assigned material to be turned into the adviser, may be issued a discipline referral, and/or may be asked to leave the staff.      

Profanity and Obscenity

Although no laws exist that restrict the use of profanity, including slang, cultural, or colloquial terms, it is clear that good taste and a sense of purpose must guide The Beaver Tale staff in all questions of profane language. The Beaver Tale staff understands that even though profanity may be common in our society, and even in the halls of our school, it can cause strong reactions when it appears in print. The needs of our readers and the standards of our community will be considered and placed before the need to publish a quote containing profanity. The student editor(s) reserve the right to edit quotes for profanity or possibly offensive words. Profanity may be used in The Beaver Tale only when contained in a direct quote from an individual and when, in the opinion of the student editor(s), the language is essential for accurate reporting. In such cases, the reporter must have documentation of the accuracy of the quote, and the person quoted must have been aware that their comments were on the record.      

The Beaver Tale will not publish any material that meets the Supreme Court test for obscenity as established in the decision of Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973) or otherwise is found to be un-newsworthy and unnecessary for school publication as defined in the “Responsibility of Content” section.      

Controversial Issues

All sides of the issue will be presented and reviewed so as to refrain from any bias. In news, all sides of a school, community, city, state, national, or international political issue will be presented factually so as to inform, rather than promote or endorse.      

Anonymous Sources

The Beaver Tale strongly discourages the use of anonymous sources. In very rare circumstances, and in consultation with the adviser, The Beaver Tale staff may opt to use anonymous sources for the following reasons: the information must be important enough in the opinion of the student editor(s) and the adviser to warrant anonymity, there is no other way to present the information, the source’s privacy and/or reputation require protection, it is necessary to protect the source and/or the source’s relatives from academic, psychological, or physical harm.      

In the event that a Beaver Tale staff member wishes to use an anonymous source and has met the above criteria, staff members shall obtain signed permission from the source to use the information anonymously, two staff members shall know the identity of the source, one being the student editor(s), and the adviser shall not be informed of the source’s identity. All anonymous sources must be approved by the student editor(s) and the adviser.      

Death

Any current student, staff member, faculty member, or building administrator that dies during the year will be recognized in The Beaver Tale. The Beaver Tale will treat all deaths in a respectful manner. The focus of the story will be on the person’s life, interests, and achievements without editorializing and in a manner that will not further aggrieve the family and loved ones of the deceased. Details about the funeral service will be reported. In the case of a suicide, the staff will use the phrase “took his/her own life,” but details of the death will not be given.       

The Adviser’s Role

The adviser is a professional teaching staff member and is in charge of the class, just as in a normal classroom situation. The adviser is a certified journalism teacher who serves as a professional role model, motivator, catalyst for ideas and professionalism, and an educational resource. The adviser provides a journalistically professional learning atmosphere and experience for students by allowing them to make the decisions of content for the publication, and ensuring the publication will remain an open forum.      

The adviser guides The Beaver Tale staff in accordance with approved editorial policy and aids the educational process related to producing the newspaper. The adviser may caution, act as legal consultant and has no power of censorship or veto except for constitutionally valid reasons. The adviser will keep abreast of the latest trends in journalism and share these with students. The adviser will submit The Beaver Tale and contributions of students to rating services and contests so the school newspaper staff receives feedback. The adviser will provide information to The Beaver Tale staff about journalism scholarships and other financial aid, and make available information and contacts concerning journalism as a career.      

The adviser will work with the faculty and administration to help them understand the freedoms accorded the students and the professional goals of The Beaver Tale. The adviser will help the staff cover all issues in a legal, objective, accurate, and ethical manner, according to the Canons of Professional Journalism developed by the Society for Professional Journalists.