“What’s the story, Morning Glory? What’s the tale, nightingale?,” perky adolescents warbled in “The Telephone Hour” from the classic high school musical “Bye Bye Birdie.”
Teen life was more innocent in that pre-Beatles era, but some things never change. High schoolers still want to be connected and informed of the latest happenings on their own campus and in the greater community.
Redmond High School’s (RHS) student newspaper, The Blaze, combines a bit of that old-style gossip — “Have you heard about Hugo and Kim?” — with thought-provoking stories on school policies and curriculum, politics, morals and more.
Thirty two students are enrolled in this year’s RHS journalism class, which is a requirement to be on the staff of The Blaze. Teacher/adviser Jennifer Mauck said they’re a “feisty and strong-minded group.”
Leading the way are editor-in-chief Alex Abbruzza, news editor Harris Dunlap, features editor Jordan Scheibe, opinion editor Courtney Wheat, arts and entertainment editor Lexi Roberts, sports editor Dan Sanders and back page editor Kailan Kalina.
Every Blaze member will write two stories per issue and will have another job such as photojournalist, copy editor, artist/designer or advertising/marketing representative.
In the first weeks of the school year, Mauck and the journalism students discovered each others’ strengths and talked about making The Blaze fresh and polished in the midst of a change in direction. Mauck, who’s an Eastlake High School grad and has taught at RHS for five years, replaced longtime newspaper adviser Doug Kimball, who retired last June after more than three decades at RHS.
“The Blaze is very much a student-driven publication and it will remain so,” Mauck promised, although her way of guiding the students may be different than her predecessor’s. She said they’ve moved past, “This isn’t how we did it,” to “This is how we’re doing it now.”
The students are fine-tuning story ideas, with angles to appeal to every facet of their readership. First and foremost, they’re writing for their peers but teachers, parents and community members are part of their audience, too. Mauck said she’s not out to censor what students write, but to encourage them to be fair, ethical and professional.
So far, the challenge has been “to come up with ideas that are timely, since the paper only comes out eight times a year,” said Dunlap. “We were planning to do a story about the Bellevue teachers’ strike, but it ended, so we moved on to something else.”
The alternate idea — which the Redmond Reporter declines to disclose, so as not to be “a spoiler” — is a topic of national concern and one that won’t fade from relevance anytime soon.
In reference to the opinion page, Wheat said last year’s editor let writers pick pretty much any topic, with most being humorous.
“I’m taking a bigger stance,” said Wheat. “Maybe one or two goofy stories per issue, but overall, more serious issues. …I’d like to find where there are head-to-head issues with opinions, as well as facts.”
On the arts and entertainment beat, Roberts plans to include stories such as “most affordable ways to go to Homecoming”, as well as concert calendars and previews or reviews of TV or movie picks.
For general features, Scheibe envisions profiles of students with special talents or student polls.
The back page of The Blaze will continue to be a potpourri of “shout-outs” (messages which can be published for a dollar or two), Cheers & Jeers on a lighthearted level, countdowns to big events, games and puzzles, said Kalina.
The first issue of The Blaze will be published on Oct. 10. Local residents or businesses who wish to support the young newspaper staff can help by purchasing ad space. A business card-sized ad is $90 and other sizes go up to $350 for a full page.
For information, e-mail jmauck@lwsd.org.
