The assignment was a test of everything the cherubs had learned over the summer, from news judgment to ledes to story structure.
And many cherubs believe they passed the test.
“The first indication that I improved was that I finished a lot earlier than I normally do,” said Alyson Weiss, a cherub from Spring, Texas.
“You could tell we knew how to write it,” said Stephanie Ackerman, a cherub from Traverse City, Mich. “People looked comfortable doing it.”
The assignment was to cover a staged Evanston school board meeting.
Although many cherubs had never covered a meeting, they used the knowledge they gained over the past five weeks to guide them.
“You start seeing quotes in your head,” said Weiss, who was selective in what she wrote down, something she didn’t do when she first came to Northwestern. “It’s kind of an experience thing. You have to feel it.”
Kupetz warned cherubs to beware of writing articles that follow the chronology of the meeting's agenda.
“I thought it was a good opportunity to cover something that’s hectic and that goes back and forth,” said Ali Elkin, a cherub from Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. “I learned to pay close attention to every detail of an event that I’m reporting on.”
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