It's getting warmer!

I’m thrilled to have you all come to the amazing city I call “home.” Though I am not a native, I have lived in Phoenix for nearly 23 years, and must admit that it has taken time to appreciate the desert. I discourage friends and family from coming to visit between May and September, but nonetheless, there are a few things to enjoy despite the summer heat. I love the SW and the Sonoran Desert, and the hiking right here in the middle of the city is fabulous, though not really in June, unless you finish your hiking by 8 a.m.

I live in the heart of central Phoenix in an historic district about three miles from the downtown ASU campus and absolutely love it! My 80+ year old home keeps me plenty busy. I work in an inner city school on the West side of Phoenix. My colleagues sometimes refer to it as the hoodie hood, but regardless, I truly enjoy my students, most of whom are immigrant children hailing from all parts of the world including the Congo, Nepal, Thailand, the Ivory Coast, Sudan, Vietnam, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico, and Iraq. I teach Eng/ESL classes, gifted seminar, and newspaper class, and all of my classes are culturally diverse.

Since many of the students at my large high school have many choices and have either tight academic schedules or prefer “fun” electives such as dance and weight training rather than newspaper, it is a challenge recruiting stellar students to take newspaper class. Many who do enroll enter with limited writing skills and a high percentage of my time is spent working with basic writing skills. We have no journalism “program” so my students do their best to learn everything and produce a publishable school newspaper in this 55 minute a day class. I have been the adviser for the past five years and have to say it has been the most rewarding and challenging experience of my 24-year teaching career.

My learning goals for this experience include the following.

1—To learn how to publish an online school newspaper which is both aesthetically and substantively i interesting for an online audience.
2—To develop team building skills and professional behavior. Working in a culture of mañana makes meeting deadlines a real challenge.
3—To better understand the use of all the technology used for a school publication.
4—To understand the rights and responsibilities of my students and I in regards to the law and freedom of speech, especially in regards to online publications.

I look forward to meeting everyone.

Jamalee Moret
Alhambra High School
Phoenix, AZ