It has taken us a while to iron out some kinks and learn a new system but now you hold in your hands a new page, quite literally, of history for the Wildcat Roar. Sixteen glossy pages of a magazine-styled print issue started off as a mere idea during one of many staff meetings. But now, we have made our vision a reality. The editors have altered other aspects of our newspaper program, changes that go beyond what the eye can see. We are taking our first steps into broadcast journalism, our website has been upgraded, we are partnering with other WCA business classes, and even the publications room looks different! Another thing we are proud of is the fact that we, as well as the yearbook staff, have been able do all this while keeping the per student cost for these publications unchanged for the 6th straight year. We are able to make these improvements in large part because we’ve been increasingly intentional about operating closer to the way professional publications do by negotiating the best terms with our publishers and supporting our program through advertising revenue. Our online presentation and glossy print issues offer advertisers a valuable format to showcase their products.

Our first foray into broadcast journalism will focus mainly on athletics because of the opportunities they offer us to pick up the medium quickly. We will also cover some behind-the-scenes feature stories. We want to master one thing at a time in order to move on to bigger things and this is where we chose to start. Our videos can be found at www.thewildcatroar.com. In fact, our first one is already up featuring highlights from the WCA v. Wheaton football game.

With the immediacy an online venue offers we will be working to increase our sports news coverage as well.  Few things in a secondary school benefit from a quick turnaround time like sports so again, they give us the chance to cut our teeth on the immediate type of news coverage people have come to expect in this day and age.

When deciding on what things to change and what to keep the same, our ultimate goal was professionalism. This year, our staff will strive to distribute products that not only look professional and elegant, but to be professional in every area of our work. The updated website may not look like much at first glance, but it is very different and we promise will only improve. Our layout is more organized, clean, and appealing.  Mainly, it’s more professional.

We won’t be taking on these new ventures alone. Thankfully, we are partnering with a few of WCA’s business classes to help us put out the best product possible.  For now, the accounting and marketing/finance classes will be assisting us in business matters. See the story of company800 inside this issue for a more detailed look at how this will work. We are beyond excited to act as a miniature business within the walls of our school.

Business and accounting classes are not the only entities we are partnering with.Minjoo Kim has agreed to use her artistic ability to design cover art for future issues. Check out our cover story for more details on how she is using her talents.

Although we have made a some changes, we have not changed our own expectation of quality writing from our staff. It is our hope that the move toward a more contemporary and professional delivery will match our professional writing style.