Editor’s note: Aubrey Casados is a senior at Chester Junior-Senior High School. This story is part of her Senior Project.
Chester Junior-Senior High School students are working on the second issue of the school’s fledging student-run newspaper. They handed out the first issue December 13 to students and staff during the Mountain Pride Tournament assembly. It included a sport’s category, a teacher spotlight, a story about a recent band field trip – even a crossword puzzle.
The next issue is set to be released at the end of January. Currently, the writers and reporters are gathering information about the Mountain Pride Tournament and another teacher’s spotlight. A new crossword will be included, this time along with Sudoku.
The school newspaper, temporarily called Chester High News, had been something some school staff had originally wanted to do. Ty Watkins, high school history teacher at CHS, had been suggesting a school newspaper since 2020, but was continuously shot down due to no interest in the students or the school administration.
This year, students Lore Bischoff, Ash Bowman and Aubrey Casados stepped forward. “I think it’s monumental we were able to get it going as well as we did,” said Lore. “I’m excited for our future issues and what stories we’ll be able to get out there.”
After Watkins heard about the newspaper being organized, he shared his enthusiasm. “I think the school newspaper would develop into a community newspaper. I absolutely see this being sold at Holiday <Market,>,” he said. Eventually, it would be great to have a subscription-style digital magazine for our school, said Watkins. This became part of the newspaper’s plan for its future, but the newspaper staff must first set up an account.
The school newspaper is part of Aubrey’s Senior Project. All Plumas County public-school seniors choose a planned step-by-step project to work on with a mentor, running from August to February. This is the Senior Project, intended to give seniors an experience similar to adulthood.
“I just wanted a student newspaper because I wanted a place where we celebrated students.”
Meghan Orange, Chester High School vice principal
This year, Meghan Orange, the vice principal, became interested in starting a school newspaper. Camile McNeil, Chester’s Senior Project advisor, suggested that Aubrey talk to her about the idea, and soon the newspaper was started.
“I just wanted a student newspaper because I wanted a place where we celebrated students,” Orange said. The results are better than she’d expected—because the newspaper staff are students themselves “and they have this unique perspective,” she said.
Upon the first issue’s release, Jacque Ricci, student services coordinator at CHS, stapled the front and back of the first issue on a column in the school. “It was so exciting to see it come out and I wanted anyone who walked into Chester High to see how great our students are,” Ricci said.
Interest in the newspaper spread to the students as well. After the assembly when the first issue was passed out, students walked to their next classes while reading it in the halls with their friends. Mrs. Orange said that they’d been particularly invested in the crossword, as students came up to her asking for one of the answers.
One of the students, Henry Chavez, called the writing “really professional.” Of course, no first of anything is perfect. “The wording could be better…Overall, it just needs better vocabulary,” Henry said.
Since one of the newspaper staff’s main goals is improvement in their writing abilities, the editors value constructive criticism. With the second issue in the works, and the support from staff and students for the first issue, Chester High News plans to build a newspaper legacy to be carried on by the students of CHS.
