by Micaela Stevenson
HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM matters. According to studies done by the American Press Institute, students who have participated in journalism programs during their high school careers will score higher on the ACT as well as do better in their courses throughout high school. According to a study conducted by Indiana University Bloomington, 96.9 percent of American high schools have some type of student journalism program. Nationally, nearly two-thirds of public high schools have newspapers, according to a 2011 media study by the Center for Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University. However, student newspapers, like mainstream newspapers, are struggling. Ann Arbor’s Huron High School no longer provides students the opportunity to publish a newspaper.
Even the media capital of the world, New York, has fewer high schools publishing student newspapers. According to an article from the May 28, 2013 issue of The New York Times, “Fewer than one in eight of the city’s public high schools reported having a newspaper or print journalism class in an informal survey by city education officials….Many of these newspapers have been reduced to publishing a few times a year because of shrinking staffs, budget cuts and a new focus on core academic subjects. Some no longer come out in print at all, existing only as online papers or as scaled-down news blogs.”
In Ann Arbor, Huron is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Community High School, which has a nationally recognized, award winning newspaper. The Communicator has earned four Pacemakers awards, two in the online category and two in the newsmagazine category. The Communicator was nominated for a Pacemaker again in 2014.
In a recent article published in The Communicator, journalism teacher Tracy Anderson said: “What’s really cool about (the Pacemaker) is that professional journalists judge it. These are people who are in the industry and they’re saying Wow, what you guys are doing is really special.”
According to Sean Eldon, the former faculty member in charge of the newspaper at Huron High School from 2003 to 2011, the newspaper began to fall apart with both his transfer to Skyline and the new appointed faculty member’s lack of interest in journalism.
“We covered everything from editorials, school policies, social events, and milestones at Huron. We were structured very much like the Ann Arbor News at the time. During the height of the newspaper, there were about 30 student staff members,” said Eldon, who returned to Huron to teach ninth grade English and Humanities.
Although the print edition of Huron’s Emery was discontinued under the new advisor during Eldon’s absence, Eldon attempted to bring back The Emery online during the 2012-2013 school year, resuming his duties as the newspaper’s advisor.
However, waning student interest in journalism combined with the newspaper course only being offered during seventh hour, brought about The Emery’s demise.
When asked what killed The Emery, launched in 1969, Eldon replied, “Fewer students were interested in writing, there was a greater cost associated with the newspaper, and there was inconsistent advising.”
As a former writer for The Emery, it provided this reporter with a sense of belonging to a body of writers. Conversely, Marissa Modell, a junior at Huron High School said, “I was inspired by how enthusiastic Mr. Eldon was and it taught me I’m incredible at procrastinating.”
While Huron’s newspaper sputtered out, newspapers at both Skyline High School and Community High School thrived.
When asked what The Communicator brought to its school, the recent Dean of Community High School and current principal at Huron, Jennifer Hein, replied, “Newspapers allow students to express a creative voice and to become better writers while they are in high school. It gives each student, hopefully, an opportunity to have a voice in his or her community even when they are only at school. Many of the students loved having access to the newspaper and were excited about the next edition coming out.”
Community High School has the district’s highest overall average ACT scores and the highest percentage of students who graduate college-ready (59 percent), according to data from the Michigan Department of Education.
Like The Communicator, Skyline’s newspaper, The Skybox, covers affairs that occur both within the Ann Arbor community and throughout the Skyline community. The relatively new paper has yet to win any awards, but students there have an opportunity to express their voices in a creative and constructive way.
The impact of The Skybox on the students at Skyline is similar to that of The Communicator on Community High Students. Christopher Peterson, advisor of The Skybox, said, “Some Skyline students check our website regularly and can be heard debating the articles in the print edition. Others are unaware that Skyline even has a paper! We are just in our second year and are looking to increase our presence. I do know that those involved with last year’s Skybox, launching, maintaining, and finding ways to pay for the paper was an amazing experience.”
Peterson added, “Skyline does not currently have a newspaper or a journalism class; The Skybox is an after school club. I encourage my English students to join and read The Skybox.” In essence, the Skyline student paper teaches many much-needed skills and adds to the overall experience of the community at Skyline.
Meanwhile at Huron High School, the death of the 45-year-old student newspaper has left students without more than a way to hone their writing skills. After all, a student newspaper is about more than cranking out the product.
“The ongoing process of questioning, experimentation, reflection and analysis combines autonomy with a supportive ‘OK-to-fail’ environment, boosting confidence in students as they struggle with real-world challenges and find solutions,” said Sarah Nichols, a high school publications adviser and vice president of the Journalism Education Association, the largest association of scholastic journalism educators and advisers.
Dr. Adam Maksl teaches journalism at Indiana University. He says, “Today’s scholastic journalism — with an emphasis on the ethical and legal responsibilities of communicating in a digital world — will help students learn to rise above the noise and create meaningful dialogue. And that…is the true product of journalism education. What other class can claim such a vital learning outcome? Quite simply, our end-goal is not journalists, but better people.”
Micaela Stevenson is The Ann Arbor Independent’s high school intern. She attends Huron High School and worked on The Emery. She researched and wrote this article about the demise of Huron’s student newspaper. Additional reporting by P.D. Lesko.