These three Oregon high school papers are killing it

Lori Shontz and Ed Madison led a discussion on teaching digital skills to high school students. Here are three newspapers that are doing it right.

One of the best compliments I got as an editor at The Bruin, McMinnville High School’s student newspaper, was from a fellow fledgling journalist at South Salem. Turns out the adviser there had four of our front pages tacked up on a wall as examples of how to write, shoot and design a newspaper.

That was back in 2005. Esther Wojcicki teaches journalism at Palo Alto High School, where student journalists at The Paly Voice are forging a path that’s been closely followed by educators around the country. She was one of four panelists at Friday morning’s talk, along with Ed Madison, Karla Kennedy and Geanne Rosenberg.

They got me thinking: Which Oregon high schools have the best news operations these days?

This is what I came up with.

The Axe , South Eugene HS

From the resignation of Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber to split opinions at South Eugene on the latest Snapchat update, the students working at The Axe have it dialed in. The writing is good, the reporting is solid and the breadth of the content encompasses most everything a high school student cares about.

The Marshfield Times, Marshfield HS

The students in Coos Bay are riding a wave of opportunity that’s inherent in having one of your graduates coaching one of the top football programs in the country. But they don’t stop there. There’s some great journalism happening on the coast. Just check out this profile on a Marshfield student who’s navigating her high school years while she has to deal with some major bullying.

Quick plug: The paper’s 2008–2009 editor, Andy Rossback, is a good friend of mine who was my managing editor at The Torch at Lane Community College before taking over as EIC of The Emerald at the University of Oregon. Now he’s working at The Marshall Project.

Grant Magazine, Grant HS

If I were back in high school, I’d want to work for Grant Magazine. What high school journalist wouldn’t want to have a byline on a story about graffiti in the bathrooms? Or this great piece on Grant grads who spent part of their lives in an internment camp in Idaho during World War II?

Who did I miss? Tweet it at me: @edercampuzano.