by Ali Marie
Pregnancy? Teaching? Let’s see how that goes. Journalism teacher, Crystel Weber, is off on maternity leave. This could cause quite a few problems for the yearbook.
Regardless, Weber is confident that as long as everyone helps and relies on each other, things should be fine.
Many Journalism Students were quite shocked to learn that she was pregnant but quickly warmed to the idea. Some students even went as far as to give her baby gifts, such as a lovely diaper cake made by Aubrey Harding. While there may be some concerns for yearbook production, she is taking a much-needed break. As Weber states, “Teachers pour a lot of ourselves into our students and our work, and that gets really emotionally and mentally exhausting … I am excited to focus on this new adventure with my husband and our families, and I think I’ll be a better teacher for it.”
When asked about her worries, Editor-in-Chief Lizzie Stowell said, “We’ve had problems in the past with people either listening to me or just ignoring it. It’s a lot better now than at the beginning of the year but that could easily change when Weber leaves.” This can be worrisome, especially since she’ll be gone during some of our most important deadlines. But as long as everyone listens to the editors as well as the substitute, and works together, the Journalism students are more than capable of creating something amazing.
Although there are concerns, the long-term sub also has journalism experience from college and understands the struggles of producing things like this. She worked on a school newspaper at Western Oregon University and majored in English, so students can come to her for help and even editing. This is a big relief because it was a concern that Weber would have a sub that didn’t know a lot about journalism, and Journalism students would have to rely solely on each-other. But since she has experience, it will be extremely helpful to have someone there to fall back on, as well as editors and fellow staff. As long as staff and editors support one another, things should end up okay in the end. As Weber said, “It will come together-it always does.”