Society Life about the Black Cow
Society Life about the Black Cow
As printed on the Society Life Magazine, May 2009
Hey Diddle Diddle!
For Westlake Academy’s The Black Cow, the Sky Really is the Limit
Westlake Academy, the shining school on the hill, has blazed many new trails accomplishing what only five other schools in the nation have been able to do by earning an International Baccalaureate certification for all grades K-12 (and the only public school in the distinguished group). It is no surprise that their school newspaper would be anything less than extraordinary. Society Life’s Dacia Coffey speaks with Dave Lieber, Fort Worth Star Telegram columnist and proud Volunteer Advisor for The Black Cow, about the story behind the student-run paper and the unbelievable ways these kids raise the bar.
Interview by Dacia J. Coffey
Q:How did The Black Cow get started?
.............................................................................................................
My son had been at Westlake Academy for a year when the Head of School, Barbara Brizuela, called me into her office in 2005. She can be a fairly intimidating and authoritative person, so my high school instincts kicked in and my knees started knocking when she asked me to start a yearbook. I didn’t have any experience with that, so I suggest a school paper. She simply said, “We could try that.” Very noncommittal. I organized the only thing that gets kids’ attention, a pizza party and presented the idea to the students that showed up.
Q:How did they respond?
.............................................................................................................
These kids have a passion about life. Give them an outlet and it is like a factory that can produce something really beautiful. From my time writing critically about the school districts, I have a strong belief that if you raise the bar for students they will meet and exceed your expectations. They have surpassed anything I could have hoped for them.
Q: Tell me about the students.
.............................................................................................................
We have about 45 students involved with the paper. We began with 7th and 8th graders because they were the two oldest grades at the time. Each year, the school adds on a grade as the kids grow. We pretty much have the same core group we started with. After the first year, we haven’t recruited or posted openings or calls. The secret is pretty much that the students who are interested must be aggressive enough-"assertive enough-"to ask. Our oldest students have stayed on and pretty soon we had 6th graders asking, then 5th graders, then 4th, and now we have 3rd graders involved in the paper.
They are incredible and can be more professional and focused than the older kids. They will be accompanying us to the Interscholastic League Press Conference this weekend. In the history of the event, there have never been 3rd graders involved before.
Q: The Black Cow has had quite a bit of success at this conference in recent years.
.............................................................................................................
The first year we launched the paper we took home five awards, the following year 27. Last year we brought home 47 awards, more than any other public school newspaper in Texas, and this year we are hoping to catch 50-something. There will be over 100 seminars where the students will hear from professionals in the industry. I think it is important to note that this school does not have a journalism program, just a bunch of kids that do this from home in their free time. We meet for one hour on Fridays and email back and forth. The students sell ads to cover the cost and distribution. If they don’t make the sales, then they face budget cuts. This is their paper; we don’t do the work for them. This is a great group of kids who demonstrate constant growth upwards.
Oh, I have to tell you about the t-shirts.
Q: T-shirts?
.............................................................................................................
Each year we typically have t-shirts that just say The Black Cow on them, but this year we have this cool design that says “Got news” with a picture of spilled milk. It was designed by 11th grader Bailey C. I want everything imprinted with their special touch.
Q:I understand the paper is completely student run. How does that work?
.........................................................................
The first year there were no student editors, they were all just learning. The following year, we had all student editors in all categories l earning what it meant to have that title. Now, the paper runs really corporately with managing editors of each section.
Certain students are naturally more dedicated and committed to doing the school proud and doing the town proud.
Those kids rise to the top and take on the leadership responsibility.
Q: I have to ask, what happens when a student misses a deadline?
.........................................................................
Oh, it happens all the time, and 13 to 16 year olds come up with terrible excuses. I used to be the one to yell at them, but I have passed that on to the students themselves now. They will cry, laugh, scream and shrivel
up in a corner in order to get the point across. A thirteen year old can come up with pretty creative and effective ways to do that.
Q: Do you have a favorite part of the paper?
.........................................................................
Definitely the front page, because I don’t know what is going to be on it until I see it. What they think is important is usually not what I would have thought was important, but they know their world better than I do.
They know what’s going on in the hall outside their classroom and what’s going on in the United Nations.
Q:What topics gets them fired up?
.........................................................................
It’s incredible that the normal teenage tendency to talk about themselves and their own world is overwhelmed by the larger world. They feel the hunger of the starving. They write about big things in a big world.
They cover elections better than large papers and profile issues, do interviews, really get inside what is going on. They pour their hearts into it.
Q:What is this I hear about a China Bureau of The Black Cow?
.........................................................................
What school newspaper has a China bureau, right? Casey Gallagher moved with her family for a year to Shanghai her 7th grade year, and she sends us updates monthly. Recently, she wrote about the differences between China and Japan. Examining those differences wouldn’t have occurred to a teenager over here. She covered the Olympics. These are really profound thoughts from an American kid living overseas.
Her insights are humble and pure and come across in such an honest way. She still accomplished this knowing that everything she wrote would be read by the Chinese government sensors. She gave her thoughts and opinions about life over there and took risks.
Q: How did the experience of launching this school newspaper affect you?
.........................................................................
It is hard to be a writer in the 21st century. We have to protect our profession and protect our craft. Fighting for your work can be no fun and all work at times, but working with the kids feels like all fun and no work. I rarely have to rein them in.
They are not even old enough to drive, but they function with the professionalism and respect for their craft of a seasoned newspaperman or newspaperwoman.
They do not disrespect the information they report, they don’t use their position to hold grudges or even personal scores. They treat their position with the dignity that it deserves.
Q: Do you see a connection between the work and growth of The Black Cow and Westlake Academy’s International Baccalaureate certification?
.........................................................................
Well, I’ve never really framed it that way, but it has to be all IB. The IB traits that are instilled in students-"to be an inquirer, thinker, problem solver-"that is journalism at its best.
That’s what this is all about.
As printed on the Society Life Magazine, May 2009
Hey Diddle Diddle!
For Westlake Academy’s The Black Cow, the Sky Really is the Limit
Westlake Academy, the shining school on the hill, has blazed many new trails accomplishing what only five other schools in the nation have been able to do by earning an International Baccalaureate certification for all grades K-12 (and the only public school in the distinguished group). It is no surprise that their school newspaper would be anything less than extraordinary. Society Life’s Dacia Coffey speaks with Dave Lieber, Fort Worth Star Telegram columnist and proud Volunteer Advisor for The Black Cow, about the story behind the student-run paper and the unbelievable ways these kids raise the bar.
Interview by Dacia J. Coffey
Q:How did The Black Cow get started?
.............................................................................................................
My son had been at Westlake Academy for a year when the Head of School, Barbara Brizuela, called me into her office in 2005. She can be a fairly intimidating and authoritative person, so my high school instincts kicked in and my knees started knocking when she asked me to start a yearbook. I didn’t have any experience with that, so I suggest a school paper. She simply said, “We could try that.” Very noncommittal. I organized the only thing that gets kids’ attention, a pizza party and presented the idea to the students that showed up.
Q:How did they respond?
.............................................................................................................
These kids have a passion about life. Give them an outlet and it is like a factory that can produce something really beautiful. From my time writing critically about the school districts, I have a strong belief that if you raise the bar for students they will meet and exceed your expectations. They have surpassed anything I could have hoped for them.
Q: Tell me about the students.
.............................................................................................................
We have about 45 students involved with the paper. We began with 7th and 8th graders because they were the two oldest grades at the time. Each year, the school adds on a grade as the kids grow. We pretty much have the same core group we started with. After the first year, we haven’t recruited or posted openings or calls. The secret is pretty much that the students who are interested must be aggressive enough-"assertive enough-"to ask. Our oldest students have stayed on and pretty soon we had 6th graders asking, then 5th graders, then 4th, and now we have 3rd graders involved in the paper.
They are incredible and can be more professional and focused than the older kids. They will be accompanying us to the Interscholastic League Press Conference this weekend. In the history of the event, there have never been 3rd graders involved before.
Q: The Black Cow has had quite a bit of success at this conference in recent years.
.............................................................................................................
The first year we launched the paper we took home five awards, the following year 27. Last year we brought home 47 awards, more than any other public school newspaper in Texas, and this year we are hoping to catch 50-something. There will be over 100 seminars where the students will hear from professionals in the industry. I think it is important to note that this school does not have a journalism program, just a bunch of kids that do this from home in their free time. We meet for one hour on Fridays and email back and forth. The students sell ads to cover the cost and distribution. If they don’t make the sales, then they face budget cuts. This is their paper; we don’t do the work for them. This is a great group of kids who demonstrate constant growth upwards.
Oh, I have to tell you about the t-shirts.
Q: T-shirts?
.............................................................................................................
Each year we typically have t-shirts that just say The Black Cow on them, but this year we have this cool design that says “Got news” with a picture of spilled milk. It was designed by 11th grader Bailey C. I want everything imprinted with their special touch.
Q:I understand the paper is completely student run. How does that work?
.........................................................................
The first year there were no student editors, they were all just learning. The following year, we had all student editors in all categories l earning what it meant to have that title. Now, the paper runs really corporately with managing editors of each section.
Certain students are naturally more dedicated and committed to doing the school proud and doing the town proud.
Those kids rise to the top and take on the leadership responsibility.
Q: I have to ask, what happens when a student misses a deadline?
.........................................................................
Oh, it happens all the time, and 13 to 16 year olds come up with terrible excuses. I used to be the one to yell at them, but I have passed that on to the students themselves now. They will cry, laugh, scream and shrivel
up in a corner in order to get the point across. A thirteen year old can come up with pretty creative and effective ways to do that.
Q: Do you have a favorite part of the paper?
.........................................................................
Definitely the front page, because I don’t know what is going to be on it until I see it. What they think is important is usually not what I would have thought was important, but they know their world better than I do.
They know what’s going on in the hall outside their classroom and what’s going on in the United Nations.
Q:What topics gets them fired up?
.........................................................................
It’s incredible that the normal teenage tendency to talk about themselves and their own world is overwhelmed by the larger world. They feel the hunger of the starving. They write about big things in a big world.
They cover elections better than large papers and profile issues, do interviews, really get inside what is going on. They pour their hearts into it.
Q:What is this I hear about a China Bureau of The Black Cow?
.........................................................................
What school newspaper has a China bureau, right? Casey Gallagher moved with her family for a year to Shanghai her 7th grade year, and she sends us updates monthly. Recently, she wrote about the differences between China and Japan. Examining those differences wouldn’t have occurred to a teenager over here. She covered the Olympics. These are really profound thoughts from an American kid living overseas.
Her insights are humble and pure and come across in such an honest way. She still accomplished this knowing that everything she wrote would be read by the Chinese government sensors. She gave her thoughts and opinions about life over there and took risks.
Q: How did the experience of launching this school newspaper affect you?
.........................................................................
It is hard to be a writer in the 21st century. We have to protect our profession and protect our craft. Fighting for your work can be no fun and all work at times, but working with the kids feels like all fun and no work. I rarely have to rein them in.
They are not even old enough to drive, but they function with the professionalism and respect for their craft of a seasoned newspaperman or newspaperwoman.
They do not disrespect the information they report, they don’t use their position to hold grudges or even personal scores. They treat their position with the dignity that it deserves.
Q: Do you see a connection between the work and growth of The Black Cow and Westlake Academy’s International Baccalaureate certification?
.........................................................................
Well, I’ve never really framed it that way, but it has to be all IB. The IB traits that are instilled in students-"to be an inquirer, thinker, problem solver-"that is journalism at its best.
That’s what this is all about.