The Blue and White newspaper staff have been behind the scenes for a while now releasing articles on all sorts of topics, from Russia and Ukraine to the many things that occur within the walls of this school. We believe it’s time to take a look into the world of The Blue and White.

There are many challenges to writing for the school newspaper, such as trying not to be too biased or too controversial. One of the main challenges most of the staff face is “getting people (especially the adults on campus) to respond to interview requests,” according to our sponsor Mrs. Houvouras. Janessa Monchery, a senior that is a part of our staff, agreed, saying, “Especially coaches, it’s like their school emails don’t exist.”

Ariana Shaw, another senior that’s a part of our staff found that “waking up” was the biggest challenge–we all find getting up for first period difficult. There are many challenges to publishing a newspaper, but there are also some favorable parts involved, as well. Cayla Pitts, one of the few juniors who’s part of our staff says her favorite part is “the new friends that I made during this experience, because they are something ‘special.’” Another junior staff member, Nathaniel Packard (AKA Morbius), said his favorite part about newspaper is “playing Minecraft when I’m supposed to be working on interviewees and questions.” Nathaniel is known for slacking while in class, but he does manage to get his articles done though, in part, due to his fear of Mrs. Houvouras.

A little bit about our wonderful sponsor, Mrs. Houvouras. She has been in charge of this program since the beginning of the 2017/18 school year after the previous teacher retired. Of course, newspaper isn’t the only class she teaches; she also has “one period of English 4 Honors and four periods of AP Literature.” Many of the seniors might be familiar with her, as most of her other classes consist of seniors. Mrs. Houvouras says her favorite part about newspaper is that “A free press is foundational to our country’s liberty, so I take this job very seriously. Teaching students to approach topics in an unbiased manner, to not shy away from tough issues, and to discuss controversial subjects in an open and respectful manner is paramount to me. I also love the camaraderie that develops in the class, since we are a small staff. It’s a great way to start the day.”

Of course, we had to be accepted by Mrs. Houvouras in order to be part of the staff. But what made us want to join the staff? Martine Joseph said she had “always loved journalism, and I thought about a future in that career. To explore my options I decided to join and I loved every bit of it.” Elijah Nuebel, the only other sophomore, not including myself, said he was “recommended by my English teacher last year and I ended up doing it.” That’s the same in my case; I was recommended by my English teacher during Freshman year and was interested in getting involved.

Elijah and I weren’t the only ones recommended by our English teachers. Janessa was also recommended by her sophomore English teacher. She was going to take it junior year, but then “COVID hit and I wasn’t able to. I decided to join this year since it seemed interesting and to expand my abilities.” Cayla has a different view on why she joined, saying, “What made me join the newspaper is wanting to see what it would be like to write one and see how it works. I also have a decent time writing and it’s fun to talk to new people when writing articles.” While meeting deadlines can be a challenge, we also get the chance to socialize while we wait for interviews and responses. There’s plenty of fun to be had in room 539.