WESTMINSTER —Inside Standley Lake High School is a newsroom filled with long hours, high pressure and tight deadlines.
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, a couple of dozen students loudly talked among themselves as they frantically worked to beat an impending 7 p.m. deadline for the 2014 school year’s second edition of
Editors-in-chief Chaye Gutierrez and Sabrina Pacha — both 17-year-old seniors — bounced from one computer screen to the next as reporters and editors called them over to help put the finishing touches on page layout.
One page completed, Gutierrez suddenly yelled, “Sarah! Gymnastics page is done!” as the room filled with clapping and cheering.
“That’s our tradition,” Pacha explained. “When somebody finishes their layout, we yell at someone who’s not paying attention to scare them and cheer for the person who finished their page.”
The student-led paper has started many other traditions — including summer workshops and weekly Barnes and Noble store meetings — since English and journalism instructor Ben Reed was tasked with overseeing the program eight years ago.
Since then, the class has taken an antiquated paper and turned it into a nationally-recognized magazine that’s rapidly garnering awards, including 11 first-place selections this year from the Colorado High School Press Association.
“This is all entirely student-run and student-driven,” Reed said.
Earlier this month, the magazine was honored with the
“I think (the award) is a reflection of the bravery of our staff; they’re really daring and not afraid to cover the hard topics or do the challenging interview,” Gutierrez said. “I admire every single one of them. … We don’t print high school newspaper stories — we print things people care about and want to read.”
This includes profiling a student with severe depression, the change of a transgender student from boy to girl and being first on the scene when students protested over suggested changes to Advanced Placement history classes.
While these stories had strong community impact, the day of Jan. 27, 2014, is one that dramatically changed the character of both the school and journalists who cover it.
On that sleepy Monday morning, A traumatized student body was left reeling as the paper had to decide how to properly cover the tragedy.
“This was a really difficult time for the school as a whole. You’re emotionally dealing with this as a student, but as a journalist, you have to cover it,” Pacha said. “We couldn’t just act like it never happened.”
When school resumed, the journalist-students decided on an issue with one goal: to help the community heal.
The stories captured viewpoints from witnesses, teachers and first-responders as they talked about getting help during a mental health crisis.
“We focused on making sure every word we wrote would be healing for the community and it wouldn’t cause hurt,” Gutierrez said.
Jack Kennedy, executive director of the Colorado High School Press Association, said the publication has been gaining momentum for years and it was only a matter of time before it received national recognition.
“What separates the Lake from most student media is their heart,” Kennedy said. “When you pick up a copy, you see emotion, you see community and see that they love their school.”
Austin Briggs: 303-954-1729, abriggs@denverpost.com or twitter.com/abriggs
