By MaKalie Farmer
The oldest student run newspaper at Abilene High can be traced back to 1926 when it was originally called the “Morning Glory”. On March 4th, 1927 there was a contest to rename the newspaper. Over 200 names were submitted, however they finally landed on “The Battery”. The Battery had over 86 printed volumes before they switched to an online forum. After 2017 the newspaper died out due to lack of funding and student writers.
Three years later, a brand new generation of writers rose up to the challenge of reviving the newspaper.
“You learn about a lot of things going on in the world and going on here at school,” Editor Taylor Lopez said. “Newspaper allows you to write down your opinion about it.”
A group of 10 students took the journalism one course in 2018-2019. Six students returned this year to continue advancing in writing. Their hard work turned into a public website on February 10th.
“The hardest part about newspaper is bad interviews,” Editor Angelina Villarreal said. “It’s hard to make a story when you don’t have a lot to go on.”
Students have learned several styles of writing ranging from news, sports, and opinions. Each news or sports story is complete with interviews from people associated with the topic. The newspaper staff learned how to properly conduct an interview to get the best quotes for their story.
“I’ve always dreamed of being a sports journalist,” Editor Connor Mullins said. “I thought that starting in high school would really help me.”
Newspaper is a key class for anyone interested in the journalism field. It provides a head start on skills necessary for big time journalism jobs.
“I love seeing the final result of my story,” Editor MaKalie farmer said. “It’s very rewarding seeing it on the front page of the website.”
The newspaper team has written a plethora of stories and uploaded them to the official newspaper website. Each story is written by a staffer, then edited by another staff member. Once the story has been revised, it’s uploaded onto the school website. The newspaper team is always looking for more staffers, so sign up for journalism if you want to write for the school newspaper!
“One of the most important things for people to recognize is that everything on the website is student driven,” Teacher Amber Via said. “I hope everyone is able to look at it and admire the staff members for all the effort put into this.”
