There’s so much happening now at North Springs that the Oracle staff can’t possible keep up with it all! Last week saw a five-day celebration of exceptional children that the staff took photos for but didn’t have time to publish due to other deadlines, and this week alone, there was a Steam event, an art project for teachers, and #MyFreedomDay, all of which made it to the metaverse (and CNN) before the staff could even hit “post.”
When Oracle went fully virtual in 2014 thanks to the efforts of its staff and then-sponsor Julia Raposo, we had arrived at a new phase of online reporting, including live updates during the onset (and even overnight!) of “Snowmageddon.” When Covid caused physical school shutdowns and worldwide “wild west” online schooling in March of 2020, we posted school and county information as quickly as we could, and became a hub for student expression via “Echo Presents,” the online version of our school’s literary magazine when it could no longer physically publish*. Oracle continued this trend the following year when learning went “hybrid,” with two thirds of the student body online and only one-third in person — Only a handful of students were present physically in Oracle and Echo’s combined class all year. (*Side Note–Look for a return of the physical Echo book this year).
With a return to full in-person learning, and Oracle’s expansion from a small trained staff of 6 to a mostly new staff of fifteen during decidated classroom time, we are at a crossroads of communications and student journalism learning. The school itself now has a strong team of dedicated staff members and teachers posting news almost daily to the school’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Wesbite; in addition, the school’s PTO maintains a Facebook group for parents, and individual teachers and staff share their own online posts, “likes,” and Tweets frequently.
As our newly-minted staff class only meets during a set period every other day during this year’s block schedule and can’t keep up with all of the breaking news (which we would be in competition for eyeballs with anyway), Oracle has dedicated its job is to staying focused on student-centered views, news analysis, reviews, and entertainment. Oracle has transformed into a site that includes the school’s A/V class video news, with regular student columns, reviews, and podcasts, and is adapting the way it will create and present original art, photos, and cartoons. We have expanded our curriculum to include a focus on student press and first amendment freedoms, and have guest speakers from local news affiliates. Following a single after school workshop last year, we have started a new ongoing partnership of live sessions and publishing plan with VOXATL, initiated by Sandy Springs Together, and hope to bring more focus on student journalism to the student body and the community. We also post updates about opportunities and schoolwide promotions for students, including contests, events, and raffles that we hope get more students’ attention. The Oracle continues to link posts to Twitter and plans to reinstate its Instagram. (Our Facebook site, once maintained, no longer draws student interest). Oracle is first and foremost a site for North Springs students and their peers.
This page serves as a hub where readers can find out more about the school from its own sources and community connections, as Oracle stays focused on student news, op-eds, and views. If you are a staff member or student organization that would like additional promotion of your class, club, or otherwise, or a student who wants to cotnribute please drop us a line and let us know at Oracle2016@gmail.com. (We also encourage North Springs students who want to express themselves through a broader city canvas to drop a line to our friends at VoxATL by emailing editor@voxatl.org.)
P.S. We are aware that the newsfeed on our main page has an issue with articles repeating through the Wrodpress scroll, and are working to resolve it. In the meantime, we suggest that to access articles the most easily, scroll down on the main page to the “months” and click on each month to see the articles posted without overlap.
North Springs website:
https://www.fultonschools.org/northspringshs
North Springs Facebook page: @northspringshigh
North Springs Twitter feed: @NSSpartans
North Springs Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/northspringshighschool/?hl=en
Fulton County Schools website:
Fulton County Schools Facebook: @FultonCountySchools
North Springs Oracle / Sandy Springs Together / Vox partneship:
VoxATL: https://voxatl.org/vox-bubble-how-is-tiktok-impacting-teen-mental-health/
Sandy Springs Together:
