Before the senior class of 2022 ended classes for their internships, I interviewed Erela I. ‘22, an editor of the Kol BT newspaper, to discuss her experiences with the club throughout her high school career. 

      Why did you start writing for the newspaper? 

“I started writing for newspaper during COVID. Honestly, it seemed like a fun additional extracurricular to do during COVID when my workload was a little lighter. I found that I actually really enjoyed it and I had fun writing about topics that interested me and doing interviews and writing profiles.”  

     What has been your favorite article to write? 

“My favorite article I’ve written is the profile of Dr. Scheffer. At the time I was taking her AP Physics class and I was really struggling. Through interviewing her and writing her profile, I learned a lot about her and learned that she had accomplished a lot. It bonded us and helped me make a lasting relationship and ultimately made me much more comfortable in physics class. It was also a pretty interesting article on a topic, the sciences, and being a female Jewish woman in science.” 

     Is there anything about KolBT you wish could be changed for future members? 

“I really hope future members change the school’s attitude towards school journalism. In other high schools, the newspaper is a significant extracurricular and people actually make an effort to read it because it reports on upcoming events and controversies in the school.”  

     Do you prefer KolBT’s online platform or KolBT’s past hard copy issues? Why? 

“Online platform 100%. The hard copies were outdated, under-utilized, and unappreciated by the entire student body. The website makes it more accessible and modern and attractive to students. I do hope that the newspaper can expand into an app, with notifications of breaking BT news. Everything currently being passed through the grade group chats could also go through the newspaper in a much more attractive and compelling way.”  

     What has been your most memorable experience in newspaper? 

“My most memorable experience of newspaper has now become sitting in the back of Mr. Bruner’s room, joking around with my friends that I made through newspaper, silently writing away while joking around and learning more about journalism.”  

     Have you received comments from your peers about any of your articles? If so, what were they? 

“Yes, I have. Dr. Scheffer more than anyone had an amazing reaction to my article about her which cemented our good relationship. Jonah ‘22 also had a really positive to my profile on him as the new commissioner of spirit. It felt really good to see how much it meant to him.”  

     What are your plans after senior year? Do you have plans to pursue journalism? 

“I hope to continue journalism in college although it seems a little intense to pursue as a career. As of now, I plan to attend Maryland College Park next fall and want to major in biology.”  

The members of Kol BT thank you for your hard work and dedication to the school newspaper.