By: Riley Haltom
Because not very many things are going on right now at Chester County High School, I felt like this week would be an excellent time to spotlight two classes that are doing big things at the school. The Creative Writing class, taught by Ms. Amber Garner, has students create the school’s very own monthly newspaper, The Wingspan. A team of students write the paper and come up with creative ideas to incorporate in the paper. Ms. Garner leads the students and directs the projects.
“The Wingspan is a monthly digital publication produced by the creative writing classes at CCHS. We have around 30 students who contribute each month. Some of the articles were feature inside school news and events, student and faculty spotlights, local stories, volunteer opportunities, and reviews. We also share creative writing and artwork and have entertainment like personality quizzes, fun facts, and contests. Some months we have a theme. Our Christmas issue in December was really neat. Students are responsible for reporting, conducting interviews, taking pictures, and helping each other with their writing. Hopefully, The Wingspan will continue after this year. I think it’s a neat opportunity for our students and a great way to share what’s going on at CCHS with our student body and community.”
Senior Wingspan writer Haley Heenan enjoys writing for the paper.
“We write articles, feel-good stories, interview pieces, personality quizzes, informational columns, and things like that. I really like writing stories about people, it makes me feel productive – like I’m making something. I really enjoy the process that goes into putting the newspaper together too, honestly. It’s fun editing & proofreading papers or seeing everything fall into place last minute. It’s brand new, so I can’t wait to see what happens with it within the next few years.”
Students can read the Wingspan by checking their student e-mail.
On the other hand, the Clinical Internship class has students go out into the community and work with real healthcare professionals in order to learn and expand their knowledge and skills in the healthcare field. This year, students go through two rotations of nine weeks each at different locations. For instance, I started at Redden Total Therapy, and am now at Henderson Family Eye Care. Students stay for an hour per day, shadow a supervisor at the clinical site, and document what they learn each week. Redden Total Therapy and Henderson Family Eye Care have been and are great learning experiences and they have a wonderful staff that are dedicated to the community. Ms. Ginger McPherson runs the program.
“The Clinical Internship class is the 4th level class for seniors in the Health Science cluster and been offered at the high school for the last six years. We started this class to give students more opportunities to do work-based learning in healthcare fields. We currently have 12 partners in the community including dental offices, clinics, vet offices, physical therapy, speech pathology, athletic trainers, eye clinics, and more. This class is dependent upon student application, interview, and teacher referrals. This is a great opportunity to jumpstart your future career as a healthcare professional.”
