Recently, the YCIS Chongqing Newspaper club published the first issue of Chongqing Times. The newspaper is written by student reporters under the guidance of Secondary English teacher Helen Weir and Primary EAL teacher Matt Borengasser. Official newspaper club members are: Amy Jung, Derek Chen, Michael Chen, Sherry Zeng, Sisy Wei, Wendy Wu and Alex Jung.

During the fall semester, students began learning how to identify potential stories, decide on news angles, interview important people, write, edit and publish stories. The purpose of the newspaper is to provide authentic writing experiences for the reporters, and authentic reading experiences for students. We hope to increase awareness of the importance of reading the news and keeping up to date with contemporary events. The title Chongqing Times was chosen because students did not want to be limited to just YCIS events. Students said they wanted to include world events as well.

Being a newspaper reporter is a tough job. The process was not an easy one, and the students repeatedly missed their deadlines. Now that the first issue has been published, however, students are already getting started on articles for the April edition. YCIS Chongqing students who would like to be involved in creating Chongqing Times should contact Miss Weir: helen.weir@cq.ycef.com or Mr. Borengasser: matthew.borengasser@cq.ycef.com