Tehachapi News

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With the presence of more than 100 vendors attending this year’s Tehachapi High School (THS) Career Fair, students were offered an opportunity to explore options that can shape their futures and point them down the path toward self-satisfaction and financial stability. It also gets them out of class for at least one period and adds to their logo-emblazoned pencil and mouse pad collection.

At least that’s what the The Voice News Staff reported on April 30, as the school’s newspaper partnered with the Tehachapi News to provide live-online coverage from the THS gym.

Non-journalism students filing past the News table seemed a bit perplexed about the frenetic activity that kept Tehachapi News Editor Carin Enovijas’ head down and fingers moving fast, (Oh my aching hands!) as she tried to keep up with The Voice staff’s on-the-spot submissions.

Thanks to Christian Brown, director of technology for the Tehachapi Unified School District, and David Andreasen, chief administrator of personnel, an overhead projector displayed the stories and photos being uploaded to the News Web site so passersby could catch a glimpse of the student reporting. Many even expressed enthusiasm in joining the paper’s staff next school year.

After the district began receiving surprised phone calls asking, “Are they really doing that right now, live inside the gym?” Web hits began to climb by the tens of dozens.

“The fact that all classes have the ability to see what is going on here is a great learning tool and really shows that the Internet is a viable source of teaching,” said Brown in an interview with Dylan Johnson, of The Voice.

“Yesterday was one of those days that truly makes it cool to be a teacher,” said The Voice’s advisor and journalism instructor Larry Elman.

“I’ve been passing along the compliments to the students,” said Elman who received overwhelming positive feedback both from outside, and within the district.
As vendors packed up their displays and a few remaining logo-emblazoned giveaways, The Voice finished filing a total of 14 web entries in just over four hours time. All this, from a four page monthly staffed by teens, proving that the THS Career Fair really does give students an opportunity to pursue their dreams — and maybe even change the world they live in.

Well done fellow journalists. So...what are your plans for the summer?