Amplifying Student Voice Through Their Publications

I arrived on the scene at Bear River High School in Grass Valley, Calif., in 2015 — a first-time principal ready to take the world by storm. The historical reputation of the school was fairly strong, but positive stakeholder perceptions were waning.

After scoping out the existing state of affairs, I discovered some significant needs related to communication and a lack of shared identity. It was particularly important to me that students would ultimately grow to have a high degree of ownership of Bear River’s culture.

As a former high school yearbook adviser, I knew how powerful student voice could be in shaping, capturing and conveying a school’s culture. At the time of my arrival at Bear River, student journalism was relegated to an afterthought, an English department elective that served to round out teaching assignments and fill students’ schedules.

What passed as the student newspaper consisted of a couple of poorly printed pages rife with uninspired articles (the byproduct of class assignments rather than a desire to convey something important). It was read by almost no one. Copies were left to litter the campus and gather dust on shelves.