High school journalists receive $500 grant from The Society of Professional Journalists

“We used to print the [school] paper. We haven’t been able to print in awhile,” says John Nogowski, the journalism teacher at Gadsden County High School.

Returning at least one edition of the school newspaper is the goal of a $500 grant that the class was recently awarded through the Society of Professional Journalists - Florida Chapter.

In February, the chapter announced the winners of its grant program for high school journalists - the three recipients included high schools in Miami, Boca Raton, and Gadsden County.

Nogowski says he plans to use the $500 check from the society to publish the graduation edition of the Gadsden County Gazette - the paper that the students write and produce.

“We had an actual, physical school newspaper that we could distribute around the school,” said Nogowski. “I think it would be a cool thing for us to be able to do that again.”

The students of Gadsden County High School have had an award-winning student newspaper for over seven years, and recently the paper won a $500 grant from The Society of Professional Journalists - which Journalism Teacher John Nogowski hopes to put towards printing a physical edition of the newspaper.

Due to budget cuts in the past, the journalism class had to discontinue the print editions of their paper - and worried about the future of the school paper itself, until a journalism student at the high school found a low-cost site that would allow the class to continue circulating their paper…albeit digitally.

In his application to the society’s grant program, Nogowski explained that the school newspaper’s current online status has kept it alive - but is not entirely accessible to all of Gadsden County High School’s students.

“I have tried to use our newspaper to connect every part of our campus,” he explained. “But not all of our students have computer access or are willing to go online to read our paper. If we were able to produce a newsprint version or two, I think it might really help our school and our students feel more connected.”

The graduation edition of the school newspaper will be the magnum opus of the journalism class’ reporting year and will come out towards the end of the school year.

The student-led paper has written on a variety of topics, such as racial and gender equality, inaugurations of presidents, the sexualization of young women, the impacts of social media on young people, and LGBTQ rights, among others.

From within the school, the paper has sourced out stories pertaining to cafeteria food, teacher spotlights, school administration, personal accounts, entertainment and media, writing and testing scores at the school, and so much more.

“We give the kids a chance to talk - give their opinions on things and get their input…but make it fun,” said Nogowski. “We try to make it fun - while also trying to show them a little bit about the journalism business.”

The paper has been at the school for over 7-8 years, although Nogowski says it has kinda been ‘off and on’ due to the school’s budgeting availability and the need for an adult teacher to lead the class.

Nogowski has been the class’ leader for several years.

Nogowski, who also teaches AP Language, AP Literature, and English III at the school, says he also aims to have the class also stretch the minds of his high school students - Nogowski has them read news clippings and long-form reports that he has the students examine and discuss.

Most recently, the students read topics related to cancel culture and its negative or positive impacts.

Other items that Nogowski has had the students write about and discuss involve the quality of Super Bowl Halftime shows, comparing similarities and differences of popular television shows, and current world events - including the Russia/Ukraine crisis.

Has also had the students read various news articles online and discuss how to spot fake news or ‘clickbait’ articles.

“These kids are really smart…I try to find anything to get their minds thinking,” said Nogowski. “I try to broaden their horizons, give them critical thinking skills, and get them really talking about stuff. It’s been fun.”

While the $500 will go towards getting the graduation edition of the Gadsden County Gazette in publication, the newspaper is still available online at gadsdencountygazette.simplesite.com

On the website, the Gazette’s most-recent, and archived editions are available for reading.

The Gadsden County Times also regularly publishes one page of the Gazette , inside the Times , for our readers and for the students to have access to a physical copy of the student paper.

Ashley Hunter - editor@gadsdencountytimes.com

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