Since it is the end of the year, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on someone who has helped give voices to the students at Early College high school through Cape Fear Voices/Teen Scene, Ms. Laura Askue.

Ms. Askue actually approached me with the opportunity to write for The Teen Scene, and is encouraging her students to get involved every day. I talked with Ms. Askue recently, and she says she does it because she believes in the importance of a school newspaper.

Before Mr. Gerald Decker, head of Cape Fear Voices/Teen Scene, came to Ms. Askue with the proposal for setting up a journalism club, Early College had no school newspaper. Askue comments that it was hard receiving some of her students’ best works, and then they never see them again. Early College students are such an artsy genre of adolescents, it only made sense for us to have a newspaper, and since the inclusion of the journalism club Ms. Askue says she has seen positive impacts on her students as well.

A big part of the positive impact is built around self-confidence. According to Ms. Askue, some students are shy at first to submit their articles because they are afraid, they aren’t good enough, or no one will care to read them. After they are published a few times however, they begin believing in themselves and really developing their own style. Ms. Askue mentioned two students in particular, one who was very quiet when she first met her and one who made it clear early on, he liked to write. The student who was shy at first had a beautiful writing voice, and upon sending submissions to the newspaper has begun to write about how much writing for Cape Fear Voices/Teen Scene has helped her become more confident. The other student who loved writing in the beginning, has been pushed to expand his horizons and learn to edit his works in a more professional way, and even try other mediums like poetry.

In addition to the personal development students undergo by writing for the newspaper, Ms. Askue also touched on the impact it would have on the students’ careers. Having published works in college is a big deal, and having contacts like Mr. Decker are very valuable. It may be the shining letter of recommendation you need one day to get into a dream program, or open doors to write for other newspapers.

When discussing the future of The Teen Scene, Ms. Askue mentions many of the projects we are looking forward to in the future, like a Cape Fear Voices/Teen Scene website that would allow for way more entries from almost anyone, and a National Quill and Scroll Journalism Society chapter being assembled at Early College. Opportunities like these really promote the art of writing, which in itself is an art that scholars everywhere are fighting to keep alive. At the end of the day, we can all attest that Ms. Askue has done her part to keep the romantics alive and keep her students engaged in literature.

Taking her class when I was a sophomore was one of the best academic experiences I had in high school, because she really made me feel like my opinion mattered. Ms. Askue does a great job of making sure her students feel as though they are capable of writing good works. In my opinion, she has a spark capable of kickstarting thousands of careers.

I asked Ms. Askue what any readers thinking about submitting their works for The Teen Scene should know, and she says “If you have an opportunity, take advantage of it”.