Ogden column: School year ends, but content still flows

It's the end, but it's also just the beginning.

As spring sports move into summer and the school year comes to a close, it's time of reflect on our first attempt at working with high school sports journalist.

It's been a great ride.

We started this project in November, reaching out to high school and community journalists to share their stories. We put the word out via Facebook and Twitter and in this space.

We have visited nearly 30 high schools, from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City, Washington (Iowa) to MFL MarMac.

We asked high school journalists to simply share the stories they already were writing for their school newspaper, town paper or yearbook. We discovered many schools no longer have newspapers or even websites where students could tell their stories.

Williamsburg was one such school and senior McCall Meade was the first to make contact with us and the first to send in stories for Iowa Prep Sports.

What has followed has been amazing.

As of last week, we have received more than 150 stories and photos - and a few videos - from 20 different high schools.

Cedar Rapids Xavier - thanks to teacher Kellie Wagner - was, by far, our biggest contributor with 10 different students offering 32 stories and 14 photos.

Iowa City West and City High, West Delaware, Mount Vernon and Linn-Mar also did a lot of sharing.

We had our first two high school Sports Desk webcasts at TheGazette.com the past two weeks, first with Kennedy's Norm Althoff then City High's Jon Myers and Jake Binggeli. The City High Sports Desk is available right now.

While we always strive for more, this has been a great first effort.

Meade and Xavier sophomore Lucy Martin won our first two quarterly prizes, and this week we drew for another iPod Touch. Lisbon photojournalist Cole Norton is our latest winner.

We will draw for two $500 scholarships the first week of June.

But, again, this also is just the beginning.

We have high school softball and baseball games throughout the summer and will continue to seek stories, photos and videos from prep contributors. We will have more drawings throughout the summer for those who contribute while not in school.

Remember, this is a great way to tell your stories about your schools and your athletes.

In the fall, we will hit as many schools as possible, continuing the program and hopefully going a step further with help at football games and other events.

You can contact me at  (319) 368-8696 or at  jr.ogden@thegazette.com