Moving On Up
Mr. Wydeven discusses his involvement in the Rock Climbing Club

It’s hard for some to imagine John Eric Wydeven as anything other than the Hemingway-esque, salt of the earth yet lovable and goofy AP English teacher that many students and teachers alike have come to know and respect. But most people who have been in any of Mr. Wydeven’s classes or know him personally can attest to the fact that he has another major passion: rock climbing. When it’s mentioned, his eyes light up and he almost always points to the huge picture of a tall rock hanging on his wall and exclaims with joy, “I’m up on that rock somewhere!!”.
Wydeven gravitated toward climbing at a very early age, admitting with a chuckle that his parents couldn’t keep him in a crib as a baby, as he would always climb out of it. His interest in climbing grew as he got older, as he climbed trees and flipped through National Geographics and admired the pictures of people rock climbing all over the world. His voice becomes obviously passionate when he discusses his love for rock climbing, saying “I LOVE it. It makes me feel so good and so happy and it’s challenging. It’s a good practice in how to mitigate risk and control fear”. His enthusiasm was further reflected when he excitedly showed me about 300 pictures of his recent climbing trip to Mexico, the pictures all having a common theme of either rocks, scenic views of the Mexican landscape, or snaps of a very happy Mr. Wydeven climbing said rocks. So when an opportunity arose a few years ago for Wydeven to take over as the sponsor for the McCallum rock climbing club, he gladly took it.

Rock climbing club meets every Thursday after school at various rock-climbing gyms around town. The premise of the club is to give kids an opportunity to learn to climb in a safe environment around their peers, and get a form of exercise that’s also fun and adventurous. “That’s the basic premise: teach kids how to climb and give them a lifelong skill that they can use to adventure in the great outdoors”, Wydeven explains. Kids of all levels are given the opportunity to explore this form of exercise, and are helped out and spotted by their fellow peers when assistance is needed. It’s a great way for kids to occupy their time in a positive and productive way. When asked if it felt at all like being involved with climbing club made him feel like his two worlds were colliding- ‘Climbing Wydeven’ and ‘Teacher Wydeven’, he says that while it sometimes feels like that, everything about him comes together to create who he is and that is reflected in both the classroom and the club. “I’m always me… So I bring everything that I am or do or think about and that comes into the classroom”, he explains. In terms of rock climbing, he says,“ I don’t worry about it, I more love it, because I’m sharing with other people- young people- something they’ll hopefully love too. So if they get that out of it, we win!”. And it seems as though the climbing club has most definitely “won” in that regard. Junior Taty’ana Jammer, who joined Climbing Club just this year, explains that rock climbing serves as a calming and stress-relieving exercise. “It’s helped me become stronger physically and has also helped me to calm my thoughts in a way”, she elaborated. “When I climb, the only thing I can really think about is what my next move will be- I’m better at chilling out when I’m stressed when I can take things one at a time”. The club has been a great success over the years, and has inspired a passion for rock climbing in many students. Wydeven expresses that he finds his involvement in the club to be very gratifying, and he discusses how rewarding it is to be able to hear about former students continuing their love for climbing past high school. The notion of sharing his passion with students is what makes the job so meaningful to him, and he enjoys teaching a skill that he wishes that he had been given access to in high school. “It’s such a neat thing for me to share it with other people and it’s gratifying to help people find something that can be a passion for them”, he says. “I want to give my students something that can be a lifelong method of enjoyment for them”.

"Where's Jake Scott?" Analysis
Grace Schmidhauser

David Hyde most definitely utilizes many of the techniques and tips that Gisondi suggests. Within the first paragraph, the author has used imagery to set a scene that reflects not only the physical aspects of the setting, but also the societal nature of the place. He also creates characters, and makes Jake Scott out to be a complex character whom the reader is compelled to learn about. The people in his life, even the men at the bar at which he is a regular, are made out to be characters that could easily be in a novel. He's descriptive yet objective in his profiles, allowing the reader to decide how they feel themselves. He paints Scott's life out to be colorful and interesting, scattered with interesting plot lines and characters. The story is in no way dry like many sports profiles tend to be. Hyde focuses very little on his actual football career and much more on who Jake Scott really is and what his life is like. Though he does interject himself into the story quite a bit, it doesn't feel forced or awkward- the writer is an important part of this story.
Another technique that Hyde uses that Gisondi highly emphasizes is the idea of taking an old conflict, something that has happened in the past, and resolving it throughout the story. The entire story is basically Hyde slowly answering the questions the readers have been having about Jake Scott and solving the mystery and creating a resolution. We slowly but surely learn about what Scott has been doing these past 30 years that he's been missing from the public eye, getting more and more invested as he goes along. 

Learning How To Write A Feature Profile:

Gisondi suggests that the writer of the profile create a conflict based on events that took place in the past, and then resolve it in the story. This makes the story more compelling and less typical and dry, as many sports profiles tend to be. The protagonist of the story should be developed and complex, and the writer should be descriptive yet objective in their description of the person so that the reader can decide for themselves.

Another tip he suggests is to find a news angle by identifying the reason that the person is being interviewed and make sure that that is exemplified in the piece. He also suggests setting a good scene by describing the setting that the story is taking place in and how that affects the conflict occurring- emphasize town's morals and beliefs, societal standards, etc.

He suggests also to write with authority and act as an omniscient narrator, but this must be accomplished by doing proper and thorough research. The writer can have a voice if appropriate, but shouldn’t be interjected into the story much at all.
He also says that the story should expand beyond only the sports- humanize the character and emphasize other parts of their life as well in order to create a more memorable story. He suggests being extremely involved while doing the research for the story- gain inside access by hanging out and observing all aspects of the person’s life.

Types of Leads

1. http://nymag.com/news/features/cancer-peter-bach-2014-5/
Description (site)
2.  http://espn.go.com/espn/print?id=7649638&type=story
Narrative
3. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/06/us/this-land-with-an-act-of-kindness-a-lady-vanishes.html?smid=tw-share&pagewanted=all&_r=1
Decription (person)
4. http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/vietnam-vets-300-pound-emotional-support-pet-8212-a-pig-8212-divides-largo/1216415
Miscellaneous/Freak
5. http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/lost-in-the-waves-19691231
Punch

1. Jimmy Breslin Columns- Analysis

I like how Breslin can take a story that might be ignored for the most part by the media, such as the piece about the New York City shooting, and turn it into an extremely compelling story with strong, interesting characters and a great narrative. He also uses imagery and other writing devices to make the reader really feel as if they are right there in the scene being described. I really liked "Dies the Victim, Dies the City", because Breslin turns a story about a seemingly ordinary homicide into a greater statement on the problems engrained in the police system and the media regarding murders. He's also not extremely obvious- he lets the reader figure out the broader message themselves. The story on JFK's grave-digger was obviously historically incredibly important, as Breslin was able to put a new and compelling perspective on a story that literally every single publication in America was reporting on at the time.


2. Top 10 Most Important Things about Feature Writing

1. Have a good and compelling lead!
2. Tell a story, i.e a good narrative!
3. Be descriptive, use imagery and writing devices!
4. Only use very powerful quotes!
5. Use "startling statements"- grab the reader's attention with drama!
6. Have unexpected twists! Surprise the reader and mess with their minds a lil!
7. Avoid using cliches and don't be overly obvious!
8. Avoid first and second person!
9. Utilize transition/quote formula!
10. Remember GQ STUDD:
G. Great
Q. Quotes

S. Strong Lead
T. Transition/Quote Formula
U. Unique Angle
D. Description- show don't tell
D. Detail

Current Events Activity 4.1

Grace Schmidhauser

Clinton and Sanders came extremely close in the Iowa Caucuses, with Clinton getting 49.9 percent of the Iowa votes and Sanders getting 49.6 percent. Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland officially dropped out of the democratic race after getting only .6% of the votes. The close vote between Sanders and Clinton means that Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders are probably going to split Iowa’s share of delegates to the Democratic convention, and Sanders was able to argue that the Iowa result was a virtual tie. This makes a big political statement to the media and the Clintons, proving that Bernie is a strong candidate who has a much better chance at being nominated then previously thought. The next big caucus is in New Hampshire, and there's a lot of debate over who is going to win there. The results will make quite a statement either way. I believe Sanders will continue to strengthen his campaign and gain more votes, as he's getting so much more attention in the media and the political community now. Citizens trust him, which subsequently leads to votes.

On the Republican side, Ted Cruz won the caucus with 27.6% of the votes. Trump was second with 24.3% of the votes, and Rubio placed third with 23.1%. This loss for Trump is a big deal, and could most definitely be an indicator of his impact wearing off and his impending failure. As we get closer to the elections, voters might be thinking more rationally and might be beginning to recognize Trump's limited experience and radical and often irrational ideals. It also says something about the power of religion, especially Christianity, in the United States (especially with Republican voters). Ted Cruz is supported by tons of evangelical Christians and has centered his campaign around religion and Christian morals, while Trump has not focused his campaign around religion really at all.