Rachael Holt

Senior Gibby Wierenga has found his place as Editor-in-Chief in FHC’s Sports Journalism class.

The second most spoken language in the U.S. is Spanish, so it’s a no-brainer for many high school students to take the language in order to fulfill their graduation requirements. For senior Gibby Wierenga, the motivation for him to take Spanish 4 this year is his dream future career. 

“What I want to do in college is cool—[something] like sports journalism or broadcasting,” Gibby said. “I know baseball the best, and a lot of baseball is [made up of] Latin American players…so knowing that language helps me connect to [the players] better.”

Sports pervade all aspects of Gibby’s life—in academics, extracurriculars, and at home. Originally, he became interested in writing about sports in his freshman year after taking Sports Journalism, a semester or year-long course devoted entirely to the unique style of writing. 

However, he originally started by writing for the school newspaper, The Central Trend (TCT). 

“When I [took] TCT and [Writing for Publication (WFP)], I wrote sports-related things,” Gibby said. “I’d been watching baseball since I was five and loved it immediately, so turning that into sports writing was a pretty easy transition.” 

Given his enjoyment as an audience member and that his dad played baseball when he was younger, it was natural for Gibby to try playing the sport himself. After joining an organized team at age six and beginning to participate in the summer season when he was 11, he fell in love with all things baseball. 

After his freshman year, in lieu of turning TCT into his own sports journalism class, Gibby switched to the official course and began writing for FHC’s Sports Report. Following this change, he felt confident that he’d chosen the right elective for him.

“The first year, as soon as I started writing about what I knew, I was like, ‘Wow, this is perfect for me,’” Gibby said. “[By] the second year, just kind of by default, I became an Editor[-in-Chief].”

Due to a combination of different factors, including burnout, lack of leadership, and students not putting full effort into the class, the output of stories began to drop in his junior year. On top of this, the two journalism classes were undergoing a transition after the former teacher, Ken George, retired.

Because he had the insight of experiencing the class when all writers were motivated, and leadership was shown, he knew what the class had the potential to be. Through collaborating with the other Editor-in-Chief, senior Mady Scarlato, Gibby has been determined to make his last year an impactful one by bringing all the writers together under the same goal of sharing an inside look into FHC’s sports with the community. 

“We tried harder this year,” Gibby said. “Mady and I both wanted to actually get it right this year—and it hasn’t been perfect, but it’s been a lot better. It’s rewarding [to] feel like an adult, [because] last year, I was like, ‘I’m in charge? I can’t do that.’”

As he becomes more comfortable in his role in Sports Report and learns how to properly lead his fellow sports writers, his other academic responsibilities have been constant. Planning to continue into higher education after high school, Gibby intends to get into some warm weather by attending an out-of-state college. His top three are the University of Tennessee, the University of Florida, and Syracuse University. 

Unfortunately, playing baseball for any of these schools is likely out of the question. 

“I hit a snag last year because I tore my ACL, so that set me back a little bit,” Gibby said. “I had to miss some time, [for the] high school season, I missed most of the varsity season last year. I think I could have [continued baseball after high school] if I hadn’t gotten hurt. I kind of quit after that, [so] for this high school season, I’m just going to play for fun.”

Even though he can’t continue professionally in the sport he loves, he will still be able to interact with other athletes and stay a part of the sports world through Sports Journalism and his future career. Being able to lead Sports Report through the end of his final year in high school ensures he will also stay connected to those he has taught how to become better sports writers. 

“It’s never really my thing to get up in front of people and give orders,” Gibby said. “[But] it’s good to help the kids [and] help everyone who’s learning. It’s frustrating because it’s hard to get them to focus, but it’s been fun to kind of be a mentor and teach them how to write.”