By Raelynn Harris ’25
After many years, Derby High School is introducing a new newspaper. The newspaper is written by students for DHS to give online updates on seasonal happenings in school and sports. It is a place for student voices to be heard about current events around the school.
DHS’s first issue of the online newspaper is out after months of hard work by students. There will be new information about happenings around the school each quarter, and although the issues may vary in topic, the newspaper will be directed to both faculty and students.
The old newspaper was running from 2011 to 2013 and was primarily written, edited, and published by teachers. It took a lot of time to have a newspaper in the first place, but now, the newspaper is student-run. Rebecca Bell is the English Department Coordinator and led the old newspaper in 2011. Bell shares, “I’m really excited. I was a little bummed when we discontinued years ago, but it was a heavy lift for the teachers, and now having this class looks like it’s going to be a great induction, I’m really excited to see what you guys come up with!”
Ray Coplin, Assistant Principal at DHS, after being asked about how he feels about the newspaper returning, states, “I am extremely excited about the newspaper returning I think it has been a long time overdue, I think back to my high school days I actually was the senior editor of the newspaper, the newspaper, and English class, and journalism class holds a very special place in my heart personally I’m very eager to see what a great new stuff is presented in the paper.” Coplin continues after being asked about how he thinks students will react to the newspaper, “I’m hoping that they react positively. Any of the different formats [that] showcase student highlights and all the great things happening at Derby High School should be well received. It’s a very social media-heavy generation of students nowadays.”
DHS Principal Jen Olson has a positive attitude about the newspaper, too: “I am thrilled about it; this is very exciting to be able to have a newspaper for students, for faculty, and for the community to find out all of the great things happening at Derby High School.” Olson continues after being asked about how she thinks students will react to the newspaper, “I think the students will really enjoy being able to read about things and maybe even getting a good understanding as to why decisions might get made or hearing about special things that are happening around the school.”
Francisco Salazar works in the language Department and worked as a teacher when a former school newspaper existed. Salazar is also excited about the newspaper. He states, “It’s going to open up a lot of opportunities for the newspaper to engage other students besides certain clubs and we have more sports that can be talked about like boy’s soccer, girl’s soccer, football, and the coming year like winter sports and spring sports. I think it’s a great idea for more topics to talk about and share with the [DHS] students.” He also shares that he thinks, “[students] will react in a positive way. I think the more they read about other students in their own school, that it will just bring more pride to the school and more love to school and the students will see that we’re doing something positive at Derby High School.”
Students are also enthusiastic. When speaking to Kaelyn DiMartino ‘25, she shared, “I think the newspaper is good because it helps students be informed about current events in the school.” Quinlan Gray ‘25 shares the same thought of the newspaper being beneficial: “I feel like it will really benefit our school. It lets people know what’s going on in our school.”
The Raider Press 