EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About IT Online!

The Byron Nelson High School newspaper The Paw Print has taken off this year and found themselves in the clouds, or rather, THE cloud. By utilizing Google Docs and Google Drive this year in the classroom they have streamlined their writing and editing process and allowed for better management of their newspaper. Their teacher, Tammy Litchfield, has pushed the students to adjust to using this digital method of data sharing and editing. "The best thing is the immediacy of it," says Tammy. "Editing is instant, feedback is instant, and everything is expedited. We can get things done quickly and in real time."

Oliver, one of the newspaper's co-editors in chief, breaks down the process the students use when creating a new article. "First, the author types his story into a Google Doc which is shared with the editors and teacher. The copy editor then suggests grammatical and formatting corrections in the doc by making comments or highlighting errors. The author is notified by the document that it has been edited, so they fix any errors after discussing them with the copy editor. Then they notify the editor in chief that it is ready for review.  The editor adds content comments and addition edits and collaborates with the author to finalize the article. Once this process is complete the doc is then accessed by the design editor who places the finished article into its proper place using Adobe InDesign." The teacher can go in at any point during this process and interact in the same way, using Google Drive's comment system to leave suggestions and notify contributors.  As Oliver said, "It's way better than using email, the comments in docs are amazing and have really streamlined our process.  We can edit and work in real time. It's really a step forward to go fully online and better facilitate the process."

Not only has Google Drive revolutionized the newspaper's creation process, but it is also helping to facilitate their plans for having a fully online print version of the newspaper next year. Sarah, the section editor, just finished designing and creating the new Paw Print website that will host the online version of the paper next year. "The online version will be checked more than print and give us the opportunity to stay on top of the news," said Sarah.  Thomas, the Social Media Director, says that the online version "will sync with our Twitter account, @thePawPrintBNHS, so we can tweet out new stories as they are added."

The newspaper team here at Byron Nelson High School envisions a more interactive and modern type of paper, one that will be highly visible to students, teachers, and parents alike.  They have made some huge leaps forward in taking the paper to the next level digitally, and those improvements will continue into next year. With the Paw Print now in the cloud, the sky's the limit on how far they can go.

How to Succeed in Virtual Business Without Really Trying

This year in Northwest ISD marked the opening of V.R. Eaton High School, and with it the Academy of Business Management and Entrepreneurship (BME).  This means this is the last year for the flagship Virtual Enterprises International (VEI) class to be held at Byron Nelson High School.  Since this class deals with the creation and management of a "real" business in a virtual world, it will be moving to the BME Academy after this year.  VEI is a program where students learn about business by creating their own business in their classrooms, as shown in their video below:

About Virtual Enterprises International from VE International on Vimeo.


At Byron Nelson High School, currently the only school in Texas with a VEI course, Mr. Browarski's class has taken to this task like a fish to water.  They have taken a vision of a business and made it a working machine.  From payroll to HR, social media accounts to corporate webpages, marketing to online virtual marketplaces, their company Salubre has grown in leaps and bounds.  Check out their story and success at www.ve-salubre.com.


What this group of students has done is more than just create a website.  They have created a business plan based on market research and models.  They have a team divided into departments to handle all the responsibilities a real company would have to face.  Students Ethan Langley and David Ryan, the Salubre Financial Team, discuss some of the intricacies of their company.  "Essentially there are all the facets of a real life company.  We keep track of the finances related to running our business, from sales and shipments to operating costs such as food, insurance, and utilities."  The work each group in the company has assigned to them is not random, as David explained. "Each department has a specific set of tasks to perform during the course of the school year, including using our personal pay from the company to invest in or buy merchandise from other VEI companies (schools) around the country to keep their companies in business."

The creative and marketing team members describe how they went about creating all of this.  The amount of software applications and skills that the team members have had to learn, often on their own initiative, is staggering. "We had to create logos, banners, catalog designs, web designs, all kinds of stuff," said Nathan Sokul from the creative team. "Primarily we use Adobe Illustrator, Indesign, Lightroom, and Photoshop.  If we didn't know how to use something we had to figure it out for ourselves.  I learned most of these during class by looking up video tutorials on YouTube or Lynda."  Hayden Rivers, part of the marketing team, said they used Wix to create the website and then linked it to Google Analytics to continuously assess their company's exposure.  "We have to do industry analysis by checking out prominent companies and looking at our VEI competitors."  They also use Google Docs and Google Drive to organize and collaborate within the company.  "Honestly, without this type of instant collaboration, this couldn't be done" says Hayden.  "With the plethora of videos and guides available to teach yourself, and such easy access to free and cheap software, it makes all this possible."

Mr. Browarski's class is special.  It's special because it isn't really a class at all: it's a business. A business developed and run by students.  A business that is connected to and collaborates with other businesses both locally and globally.  A business that has taught them life-long lessons by helping them to develop skills they can use as they enter the real business world.  A business that has taught them how to succeed.