By Laura Lane
Leaving school early two days a week from September through May, they learned the ropes of newspaper reporting.
Working at the chain of 14 weekly newspapers fulfilled a requirement for their Senior Experience class, for which Calhoun students head into the real world and try out careers that they find interesting.
"This is a hands-off class, although someone is in charge of each internship," said Jason Elias, who teaches the class with Kate Caparuso. "We find out how [the students] do from feedback. Emily and Amrita are exceptional students, the two shining stars of our program."
The internship was a win-win for the interns as well as the Heralds. John O'Connell, the Heralds' executive editor, said the paper often accepts high school and college interns. "There's lots of talk these days about the future of newspapers," O'Connell said. "The students who intern with us and their peers are the future of newspapers. It's good for the Herald to have the fresh insights and energies that these young people provide, and it's good for us to know that we can give them a valuable learning experience."
A Herald internship was a logical choice for Das. She has been interested in journalism for years, and worked for two years as editor in chief of Hoofbeats, Calhoun's student newspaper.
"I always thought I'd be a journalist, but I liked the fact that I got hands-on experience by interning at the Herald to actually see if this is the career I want to step foot in," said Das. "Being at the Herald gave me a more realistic view of the process of what it is to be a journalist."
Fitzgibbon said she has considered many careers, but has always been unable to decide. After her Herald internship, however, that was no longer a problem. "I've decided that I want to be an English teacher, and that's the first solid idea I've ever had," Fitzgibbon said. "Working at the Herald helped me decide."
Das and Fitzgibbon recently shared their Herald experiences with their Calhoun classmates. Handing out a mock Herald front page, Das explained what it was like to write her first story. "It was an interesting experience, since I've never had my work critiqued like that," she said, referring to a story she wrote about changes in Calhoun's school lunch program. "I outlined the story, wrote a rough draft and then a draft. [Merrick-Bellmore senior editor] Scott Brinton worked with me, and my writing improved."
Fitzgibbon told classmates that it was strange calling police to request a mug shot, and recalled her first phone call to a Board of Education candidate as difficult. "I hate making phone calls," she said, smiling. "And that interview was so bizarre. She was asking me the questions and couldn't understand why I was calling her since she was running unopposed."
The teenagers worked with several Herald editors during their internships, and were mentored by Lynbrook-East Rockaway Editor Mary Malloy. "Mary is the misconception of an editor," Fitzgibbon said. "She's way too nice and doesn't unfairly criticize."
Malloy said that Fitzgibbon and Das were impressive interns whom she'll miss. "Their interest in journalism led us to give them more responsibilities, which ended up with each doing a byline piece, which is unusual for high school interns," said Malloy, adding that the students were always on time, cheerful and able to take on any assignment that they were given. "Due to the nature of the news business, things change all the time. If Emily and Amrita had to change what they were doing to work for another editor, they were always willing to switch gears."
The Calhoun seniors said they learned a great deal at the Herald. Fitzgibbon marveled at how often people were shy about being photographed. She needed to convince them to have their photos taken for the Herald's Viewfinder, a weekly question-and-answer column.
And Das said she now realizes what a huge responsibility it is to be a journalist. "I needed to learn to take criticism, not just from the editors, but also from the people I interviewed," she said, adding that being thorough in her work was of the utmost importance. "I learned that as a journalist you need to get the word out and not care about what other people say. Otherwise you won't get the news out."
Comments about this story? LLane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
