Picture this: a North Atlanta classroom filled with the sound of frantic high-schoolers, fueled by donuts and cookies. There are students from other rooms trying to sneak in to meet the special guest. And there are signs and a full-sized banner hanging around the classroom and down the hallway, all reading “Welcome Carl Azuz!”

For those who don’t know who Carl Azuz is, he is the anchor for the popular show CNN Student News. This fan-favorite show has been educating students all over the world on current events since 1989. Azuz writes, produces and assists with web production along with anchoring the show.

On Feb. 3, Jack Stenger’s journalism class hosted a press conference for Azuz. The purpose was to teach students how to ask the right questions as a reporter and more importantly, to learn from the anchor himself. Stenger was especially excited as he is a former coworker of Azuz’s.

Students asked the anchor about the day-to-day aspects of the show and his rise to broadcasting renown. He said that the bulk of his job is researching and writing, then taping the show later in the afternoon. The team makes sure to pick relevant, international stories, only write the nuts and bolts, and explain things so that students watching can learn more about the topic.

Azuz also stressed the importance of journalism and the hard work that goes into it. According to him, it’s important to be objective and well-researched when writing or presenting news. Most importantly, he gave his advice to aspiring journalists. “Go to a good school and work hard,” he said. “You can’t just expect things to come to you.”

On a lighter note, he also shared the fun parts of the show, his fans and his puns. After all, doing the show without them would be “pun-thinkable.” The reporter’s all-time favorite pun was on a story of a deep sea creature called a siphonophore. At first he read off three easy puns, but then he quickly added, “My producer didn’t think I can make any – I was able to siphon off four.”

As for his fans, he said that meeting them is his favorite part of the job. The students would agree as they shared food and took pictures with Azuz at the end of class. “It was so exciting to meet him and it was a great experience to be able to learn about journalism from someone like Carl Azuz,” said freshman Katherine Atkinson.

Azuz was the class’ second guest speaker. The first was CBS 46 Atlanta anchor Tracye Hutchins. It’s hoped that North Atlanta students will keep getting opportunities to learn from the best in hopes of enhancing their knowledge and bringing classroom lessons to life.