Working Education (WE) Magazine
Spring 2009 Premiere
The Friday night class entitled "Print Journalism Workshop" allowed students to take what they learned inside the classroom and directly apply their knowledge that to a magazine they would create from scratch. "I saw no better way to teach the subject of magazines than to just thrust students into a real-life setting using the classroom as a backdrop," said Print Journalism Workshop Prof. Elena Romero, who's worked over 10 years in the magazine industry." Students had 15 weeks to develop a business plan and execute a successful launch, which in fact they did on May 22."
The creation of this magazine is actually the culmination of two courses, Intro to Publishing (the pre-requisite course taught spring 2008) and Print Journalism Workshop (spring 2009). Both courses, new to CWE, were designed to prepare students for the field of magazine publishing. "It was merely a dream of mine in 2007, said Prof. Romero. "My class exceeded my expectations. I'm very proud of them." From the beginning of the semester, students hit the ground running. Students were given three weeks to develop the business plan that outlined the magazine's mission statement, content, target audience, sales approach and publicity strategies. Students spent two weeks to determine a viable name, one month to write the articles and obtain all visuals, two weeks for editorial review, and the remaining weeks for design approval and layout. "The students who put the inaugural issue together wanted it to serve a dual purpose— to be entertaining and to provide a service to CWE students," said Tichelle Porter, the magazine's editor-in-chief. "The stories featured in the magazine mirrored the interdisciplinary courses taught at the Center."
The class was broken into three departments: a five-member team , two advertising executives and two publicists. From the beginning, the students wanted the magazine's mission to reflect the diversity and talent of CWE. Therefore, a heavy emphasis was placed on the educational and social values relevant to those in the CWE community. "WE will function both as a voice for the students and as an informative guide for our student community of working adults," states part of the mission statement. The content of the magazine was a combination of concepts developed by students in the class, along with the input of the student body, which was gathered through a student survey. Articles featured in the magazine included: student submissions of art and poetry; after class hangouts; healthy living; money and careers; student spotlights; talent at CWE; history and current events; fashion and op-eds.
"Working Education is like all your favorite newsstand magazines all rolled into one," said Mary Eustace, who served as WE's publisher. "As our deadline approached, we piled into Professor Romero's office staying late, even on days we didn't have class, to make the magazine happen." Students during the production process perfected their articles, going over every line-by-line, page-by-page. "My favorite part of the class was surprisingly the editing process, "said Rodney Flood, who served as photo editor of the magazine. "I had the privilege of meeting a great and multi-talented group of people that came together to work on and complete the huge task of creating a magazine."
"I feel so lucky to have gotten to know such a cool group of people," said Julia MacFall, WE's managing editor. "By weird coincidence, this magazine class has introduced me to some of what I feel are some of the most awesome people at CWE. Even though it's crazy, I am going to miss eating pizza at 1 am and doing last minute edits." Sheila Romero (no relation to the professor) was among the three students who had asked permission to take the course because she had no prior prerequisites. "I didn't know what to expect," she said. Once we were broken into teams, the task of making the magazine flowed easily." Like Romero, graduating senior Rebecca Isaac, who served as WE's associate editor, had no idea what she was getting herself into. "I must admit there were so many moments, that included breaking day, buffalo wings and pizza, that made me appreciate taking the course," said Isaac."My fondest memory was seeing the dedication and perseverance of the class not only on Fridays, but day after day. We worked together to get the job done especially during times when it didn't look like it was going to happen. This was an especially wonderful feeling."
Spring 2009 Premiere
Working Education Created for the Students, by the Students
CWE Launches its First Student-Driven Magazine through its Print Journalism Workshop Course
Nine students took an unconventional approach to launching a start-up magazine through a combination of class lecture and hands-on experience in spring 2009.The Friday night class entitled "Print Journalism Workshop" allowed students to take what they learned inside the classroom and directly apply their knowledge that to a magazine they would create from scratch. "I saw no better way to teach the subject of magazines than to just thrust students into a real-life setting using the classroom as a backdrop," said Print Journalism Workshop Prof. Elena Romero, who's worked over 10 years in the magazine industry." Students had 15 weeks to develop a business plan and execute a successful launch, which in fact they did on May 22."
The creation of this magazine is actually the culmination of two courses, Intro to Publishing (the pre-requisite course taught spring 2008) and Print Journalism Workshop (spring 2009). Both courses, new to CWE, were designed to prepare students for the field of magazine publishing. "It was merely a dream of mine in 2007, said Prof. Romero. "My class exceeded my expectations. I'm very proud of them." From the beginning of the semester, students hit the ground running. Students were given three weeks to develop the business plan that outlined the magazine's mission statement, content, target audience, sales approach and publicity strategies. Students spent two weeks to determine a viable name, one month to write the articles and obtain all visuals, two weeks for editorial review, and the remaining weeks for design approval and layout. "The students who put the inaugural issue together wanted it to serve a dual purpose— to be entertaining and to provide a service to CWE students," said Tichelle Porter, the magazine's editor-in-chief. "The stories featured in the magazine mirrored the interdisciplinary courses taught at the Center."
The class was broken into three departments: a five-member team , two advertising executives and two publicists. From the beginning, the students wanted the magazine's mission to reflect the diversity and talent of CWE. Therefore, a heavy emphasis was placed on the educational and social values relevant to those in the CWE community. "WE will function both as a voice for the students and as an informative guide for our student community of working adults," states part of the mission statement. The content of the magazine was a combination of concepts developed by students in the class, along with the input of the student body, which was gathered through a student survey. Articles featured in the magazine included: student submissions of art and poetry; after class hangouts; healthy living; money and careers; student spotlights; talent at CWE; history and current events; fashion and op-eds.
"Working Education is like all your favorite newsstand magazines all rolled into one," said Mary Eustace, who served as WE's publisher. "As our deadline approached, we piled into Professor Romero's office staying late, even on days we didn't have class, to make the magazine happen." Students during the production process perfected their articles, going over every line-by-line, page-by-page. "My favorite part of the class was surprisingly the editing process, "said Rodney Flood, who served as photo editor of the magazine. "I had the privilege of meeting a great and multi-talented group of people that came together to work on and complete the huge task of creating a magazine."
"I feel so lucky to have gotten to know such a cool group of people," said Julia MacFall, WE's managing editor. "By weird coincidence, this magazine class has introduced me to some of what I feel are some of the most awesome people at CWE. Even though it's crazy, I am going to miss eating pizza at 1 am and doing last minute edits." Sheila Romero (no relation to the professor) was among the three students who had asked permission to take the course because she had no prior prerequisites. "I didn't know what to expect," she said. Once we were broken into teams, the task of making the magazine flowed easily." Like Romero, graduating senior Rebecca Isaac, who served as WE's associate editor, had no idea what she was getting herself into. "I must admit there were so many moments, that included breaking day, buffalo wings and pizza, that made me appreciate taking the course," said Isaac."My fondest memory was seeing the dedication and perseverance of the class not only on Fridays, but day after day. We worked together to get the job done especially during times when it didn't look like it was going to happen. This was an especially wonderful feeling."
