A note from a very proud new editor

Dear TattlerExtra readers (and writers),

                When the few Tattler staff members, myself included, first met with Mr. Lopilato to explore possibilities for the new online version of our school paper, we had no idea what our student body would achieve by the end of the year. Not only has our website won awards, held followed contests, and gotten a core staff going, but we have created a place that unites students, staff, and the Bethesda-Chevy Chase community as a whole.

                I am Amy Heaton, an upcoming junior at B-CC. I will also be the Editor-in-Chief of TattlerExtra for the 2010-2011 school year. I joined the Tattler (print edition) last year, and was heavily involved in the set-up and implementation of the website. I write the occasional editorial for the site, but most of my pieces are from the print edition. Every time I think of the group of people who come to room A-311 on Thursdays to meet about the site and everything surrounding it, I am so excited by everything we have accomplished together.

                And we have accomplished a lot. In our first year, we won the Silver Crown Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (that’s the big one). We held the first annual Debate-A-Bowl, a very successful competition with some amazing rhetoric pieces. We hosted the Writer’s Round Table, which raised a lot of money for not only TattlerExtra, but Chips and Tatter (print edition) as well. John Hardwood, the guest speaker at the 2010 B-CC Graduation, praised TattlerExtra in his speech. I really do not enjoy bragging, but it is hard not to take note of such success!

                Last year’s editors of the TattlerExtra deserve a great deal of thanks for this. Ria Lazo and Lauren Hoover gave us that first push, organizing the meeting place and time and gathering new recruits. They came to the meetings and talked about upcoming events and suggested story ideas, and they also organized a Facebook group to help people who couldn’t come to the meetings stay connected. This year, they will move on to bigger things: Ria has graduated and moved on to college, and Lauren has been named one of the Editors-in-Chief of the print edition of the Tattler.

                But to be honest, all of this could not be possible without the driving force behind everything that happens with TattlerExtra: David Lopilato. In his spare time as an English teacher at B-CC, Mr. Lopilato plays with the layout, helps us come up with and organize events and contests, and is present at every meeting to give us his input. He always has an idea or suggestion to help us make the best out of the site he launched for us, and for that we all owe him a lot.

                Along with helping us run the website, Mr. Lopilato also encouraged B-CC teachers to use the website for their classes. A Shakespeare topic popped up on the Forum board around the time English classes were starting their Shakespeare units (specifically Romeo and Juliet for the ninth graders). The incoming Ninth Grade English summer assignment involves posting on the TattlerExtra. One of the rounds of the Debate-A-Bowl was judged by the AP Language classes. The website is a way to bring the school together outside of the classroom, and encourage students to raise their voices about what they are learning and about what they want to learn.

                So, we are all very excited about a new year, with new possibilities and new students. Our staff consisted of mostly ninth and tenth graders last year, but this year we have grown into old dogs (with some new tricks) with a whole new crop of eager ninth graders. Since we have a good foundation under our keyboards, we are going to explore new ideas and develop new parts of the website.

                From me, Mr. Lopilato, and the staff as a whole, we work forward to providing you with new and exciting stories and editorials.

                                                                                            Happy reading,

                                                                                                         Amy Heaton