Thanks to Clover Montessori School for their support.
Two Rivers High School relaunched a student newspaper for the first time in eight years. The Two Rivers Tribune launched last year as an online quarterly magazine. A team of six students, led by myself, Editor-in-Chief Norah Anderson, made it possible. I’ll explore the basics of the Two Rivers Tribune and then explain how we started a student newspaper again at Two Rivers.
How to get a copy: Last year’s Quarter Four and Quarter Three editions are available, as well as the most recent Summer Edition! New editions are emailed to district families. The future goal is to get them on the Two Rivers website. We also have an Instagram account.
Reaction
Response on campus has been positive:
- Principal Al Johnson: “I love it! It is a place where students can voice their opinions, which matters. Schools are responsible for helping students to flourish, and this is exactly the kind of thing to do.”
- Kelsey Appelbaum, Two Rivers Tribune social media marketer: “The newspaper has been an incredible way to meet people outside of my normal friend group at school. I’ve really gotten to know people who have different interests and backgrounds as well. I’m super proud of the support from our community, and the continued praise at school makes you feel good about what you’re doing.”
- Sean Spence, senior at Two Rivers: “I think the newsletter is important to read. It shows a recap of each quarter. While you are in school you only focus on certain things, where the newsletter tells you everything that happened that quarter.”
What it Covers
We have worked on a variety of stories we thought people wanted to hear about, whether we wanted to have a column in our newspaper, which is still something we have been working on, and so many other topics and ideas we have yet to decide. We have addressed many, including student and staff highlights, theatre production reviews, sports season recaps, and academic programs at Two Rivers. Yet, we still have so many more planned for the future.
- See the Two Rivers Tribune story on Pivot Interactives reprinted by the West St. Paul Reader.
How It All Started
Going into my junior year of high school, I knew I wanted to do something different. I craved hearing about other people’s lives, all the things they had done, and all the things they wanted to do. But the question was how?
My teacher, Mr. Laux, impacted my education through his fun and open teaching style. Every single day, he shared stories about his life or past students. He did not shy away from emotion-filled mistakes and topics but kept his classroom a safe place for everyone, no matter their opinions. On his wall, by the door, were the old editions of the Sibley Scribe. I passed by them and thought about how cool that was.
I often thought about the past school newspaper and how it was something I wished we still did. I thought about this for months until I realized I could start something like Sibley Scribe. The problem was there was no information about the Sibley Scribe except for the singular edition on Mr. Laux’s wall. I decided to take on the idea and challenge of creating a school newspaper. With the help of some of my friends and my favorite teacher, Mr. McCormick, I had a team of creative writers who drafted what we wanted Two Rivers Tribune to look like. Bringing it to Dr. Johnson was intimidating because what if a simple no turned away all the hard work and ideas we poured into this? Of course, Dr. Johnson is not the type to just say no, especially when it comes to students voicing their opinions.
History
The former student newspaper, the Sibley Scribe, ended around 2016. Prior to that, Sibley High School had the W. S Te Pee (the name referenced Sibley’s former Native American mascot), first published on December, 18, 1952.
Hopes for the Future
I have met so many incredible people and learned so much, which is what started this all for me. I can’t wait to continue this through my senior year with my team and create content accurately representing Two Rivers.
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