Basden and The Junior J-Kids

Photo by Katherine McGinness

Sophomore Rachel Basden was called out into the orange and black halls of Middletown High School North before newspaper class. Jitters crawled up her legs as she awaited her teacher’s reasoning for pulling her out of class. At 15-years-old, Basden was already shooting photos, writing stories and cutting and pasting layout at an advanced level.

Noticing her talent, she was asked to be the layout and design editor for her high school’s newspaper—The Lion’s Roar. To this day, she still holds the record for youngest student to have an editor position.

Basden has taught in various school districts in the English department for 22 years, with her most recent six at Indian Hills. Basden’s newest addition to Indian Hills is their journalism program. This has opened a whole new realm for students at the middle school level and has given them the ability to take classes on a new subject.

When Basden began teaching at Indian Hills, she taught English, reading and Communications. Working in the English department allowed her to weave in journalistic writing, interviewing, transcribing and photography into lessons.

After her second year of teaching at Indian Hills, Basden turned the existing yearbook from an “English teacher’s hobby” into a student-run club at Indian Hills. But the only problem was that more and more students kept wanting to join, and after-school clubs at Indian Hills are only 30 to 35 minutes long which Basden felt was limiting her students. If granted more time they could learn more.

At the beginning of the last school year, journalism was made available as an elective course. Students applying had to fill out an application to get accepted into class. They were asked various questions aimed at displaying their creativity and openness to the program. Basden’s favorite trick question for students is to “List all of the departments you don’t want to try” because it shows her who is willing to try everything.

“[For staff] I’m looking for the kid who looks like the jock and the kid who looks like you wouldn’t talk to because [they usually] mesh well together,” Basden said.

Basden’s journalism student’s named her Wonder Woman in honor of their staff nickname theme this year — superheros.

All 79 staffers have something different they bring when they walk into room two according to Basden. Their ability to work last year’s theme—Reaching New Heights — throughout the entire yearbook was key in helping them win the Jostens Middle School yearbook of Excellence and a KSPA award their first year as a program. This year’s yearbook theme has yet to be released for the school year.

From choosing to go to school an hour and 30 minutes early for extra work time, FaceTiming into staff meetings, to jumping from volleyball practice, orchestra concerts and back to the journalism room, Indian Hills students give maximum effort and still crave more according to Basden. Wanting to further their opportunities, Basden spent two weeks this summer teaching journalism workshops that focused on photojournalism, writing and layout.

“I didn’t press them to come at all,” said Basden. “I had most of them coming all the time all summer long”.

Basden wants her students to learn the framework of how to functionally run a newspaper, but still be true to the fact that they are still middle schoolers, before they can publish it.

“I like her leadership skills,” eighth grade head copy editor Hassan Sufi said. “In a smaller setting she can take charge and she just knows when to help and when to let you figure things out on your own.”

Every eighth grader that returns from their seventh grade year is made a leadership student, and within those leadership students there are assigned staff positions.

This year, 17 students make up the editorial board with positions of head editors, copy editors, photo editors, layout/design editors and sunshine editors — editors in charge of planning class events. The incoming seventh graders are pushed to try everything from photography to layout with the help of Basden and the leaders.

Even before journalism came to Indian Hills, Basden had already left an impact on her former students, according to senior Dalton Reck.

Reck was in Basden’s communications class, which he calls a “supplement to English,” only everything falls in the non-fiction category. This gave Basden the passage she needed to ignite a journalistic side in her students.

“For not taking J-1 at East, the only reason I would know how to write a story would be because of the feature final we did in communications,” said Reck. “It was the best class I could have took aside from J-1 to prepare me for East journalism”.

As a senior on Harbinger, the basic photography skills he learned from Basden created  his passion for photojournalism that led to his position on staff as head video editor.

It doesn’t surprise Basden to hear that her former students, like Reck, have found success in high school journalism. She can’t imagine how many more will enter the program at East, or find themselves successful in other activities.

“It’s like waiting for a movie that hasn’t happened yet, but you now it’s going to be amazing and you can’t wait to see it,” said Basden. “I’m waiting for that moment with my students”.

According to the Indian Hills superheroes, Wonder Woman is a leader. She is helpful. She is determined. She is wise. She is Mrs. Basden.