By Grace Hansen
Editor
If it weren’t for Our Town, the printed Fox’s Howl would be extinct. At the end of last school year the staff of the Silverton High School student-produced newspaper was told that there weren’t enough teachers or resources to keep the paper printed in the 2010-2011 school year.
The only option was to combine the class with the Yearbook team taught by Nancy Miller and write short stories to put on the school website. The students had mixed feelings about this change.
“We were willing to make the change but we were worried that students wouldn’t read what we wrote if it was only online,” Assistant-Editor and senior Erin Kelley commented.
When the newspaper staff learned that Our Town would let them print four pages in their newspaper every other month it gave them renewed hope.
“It was like the Fox’s Howl was coming back, but now the whole town would be reading it,” Sports Editor and senior Trevor Finch added.
The beginning of the school year has been challenging for the newspaper team. They started out with only two writers officially in the class but have grown to six. Amanda Maddux, a sophomore, and Elizabeth Rueda, a senior, are both new to the newspaper but have already proved to be valuable assets to the team by jumping right in without much training.
Also, Jordan Dooley, a junior and a returning Fox’s Howl staff member, has been writing for the paper in her spare time because she couldn’t squeeze the class into her schedule.Even though the staff has doubled in size since the first day of school, they are still a small group.
“I’m hoping that next semester we can get some more students to join the class so that there won’t be so much pressure on only six students,” Kristine Thomas said.
Thomas is the Managing Editor for Our Town and has also been a mentor and leader for the newspaper staff. Every afternoon Thomas goes to Silverton High school to correct articles, give advice, set deadlines, and touch base with the students.
“I enjoy working with the students, even though sometimes I have to bribe them with food,” Thomas said laughing. Another challenge facing the newspaper staff has been getting the blog set up for the online article
s.“We didn’t realize how much work it would be getting the Fox’s Howl up online and learning how to navigate the site,” Finch said. Derek McElfresh, in charge of student info and data at Silverton High School, set up the Fox’s Howl online and has guided the staff through the process of learning how to use and manage the blog-style site.
“I don’t know how we could have pulled this off without all of the help we have received from Kristine, Derek and Our Town. They have been so helpful and provided such a great opportunity to gain real-life experience in journalism and teamwork,” Kelley said.
The goal of the Fox’s Howl newspaper staff is to give the Silverton community a peek into the lives and activities of high school students.
“When people read our articles we want them to feel like they caught a glimpse of the talent, spirit, and character possessed by Silverton High School Students,” Kelley said.
You can visit the Fox’s Howl online at http://www.thefoxshowl.blogspot.com/ or go to the Silverton High School webpage and click on The Fox’s Howl link to find new articles and pictures each week.
If you are interested in contributing to the Fox’s Howl with your writing, photo-taking abilities, or ideas there will be a meeting at Silverton High School, Room A104 (newsroom), during both lunches on Wednesday, Oct. 20 and Thursday, Oct. 21.
