Student News Coverage
Student journalism has been a hallmark of great schools for as long as students could get their hands on a printing press, a PC with a dot matrix printer or an iPad and a blog. Day-to-day student papers dive into school life covering the issues that matter most within the walls of the school building – personal interest stories like why Mr. Latimer, Ms. Cruz and Ms. Tang became teachers (2017), an exposé on what students think of lunch service (2018), or a deep-dive into how the new high school lab day schedule will impact the curriculum.
Great student journalism celebrates the victories of student-athletes. It covers school plays and concerts and keeps everyone up to date with club fundraisers and extracurricular activities. Every once in a while, an intrepid student-reporter will land a big scoop that could lead to a change in school policy. In a healthy school, student voices and a critique of policies are welcomed because freedom of speech and the press are fundamental to our democracy, and where better can students learn to use those inalienable rights than in school?
There are three student newspapers at Grace run by students who are guided by faculty members. “The Lower School Times” is a publication from the third and fourth graders who spend the year running down stories and taking photos to publish one big newspaper each June. “The Eye,” the Middle school’s digital paper, is an elective and students cover a wide-range of topics from the Ski Trip to reviews of Broadway shows.
In the High School, “The Grace Gazette” features a robust website, a custom app for smartphones and an Instagram account. An editorial team of students directs the Gazette as they focus on the life of the high school division. In February, the Gazette won second place for online publications at the Yale Daily News Journalism Symposium. Many Grace Gazette staffers have contributed to this magazine (see Sam M.’s article on page 32 and Ellen J.’s article on page 41).
Find links to all the student publications at www.gcschool.org/studentjournalism.
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