Since the 2017-2018 school year, Erie High has been publishing stories on the Erie Tiger Times website. What some people may not realize is how much work students put into sharing these stories, and even putting out the weekly news broadcast.

With 17 students in the publication class, a small family has been built that is filled with laughter, smiles, and overall good times. Danay Schara, a senior in the class, has been a part of the Erie News since her freshman year. She expresses how much the atmosphere of this class has changed from just a bunch of students to what seems more like a community. “This class is filled with a bunch of cool, very personable people, which makes the class fun to come to.” For many students in the class, it will be bittersweet to say goodbye, but luckily there are students ready to step into the bigger roles of helping lead the class.

While Danay does most of the video editing for the youtube channel, Hannah Osmann and Laina Kitlowski, two of the class juniors, revise all stories that get published to the website. This is Laina’s first year being a part of the class, and though she got put into a leadership role right away, she still enjoys the responsibility that comes with it. “I wasn’t expecting to be an editor, I was just hoping to write stories, but it’s been a good learning experience.” 

Brandon Bird is the teacher for all EHS media classes, such as yearbook, Erie Tiger Network, Erie Tiger Times, and more. He has made it his goal to not only create a fun, easy-going classroom environment, but to also motivate his students to enjoy the work they are putting out to the public. 

Though the work in this class can take time, Bird ensures students walk out of his class smiling. Whether it’s Bird belting the song, “Remember Me” from the movie Coco in the middle of shooting the news, or walking into his classroom on a Friday morning and hearing the song “Friday” by Rebecca Black being blasted on the overhead speakers, he never disappoints to make the class as enjoyable as possible. “I like creating an environment that is collaborative and people enjoy being in, so hopefully the students feel the same way when they are in here.” From the students’ perspectives, mostly everyone can agree that walking into the T99 classroom is a different energy that any other teacher can create. 

Every piece of media that gets posted from the publication class has a backstory that is most likely filled with good memories and lots of smiles. It is only right to thank all the students, writers, and teachers that help these stories come to life, but most importantly Bird, who created this whole network and family of people.