“THE HIGHLANDER” RETURNS

BY: CARLI ALVAREZ, ABI HOSLER & STEPHANIE RUFO

Highland Academy has announced that “The Highlander” newspaper is back on campus! The Highlander, a student-run publication, was formed in the 1950’s. Our records show a publication in 1952 with Barbara Themes as editor-in-chief, a staff of 2 editors, 4 reporters, and a literary advisor, Miss Mary Elam. The paper was published by the Student Association of Highland Academy monthly, and a yearly subscription rate of $1.00 (which would be $11.20 in 2023) was offered to help with expenses.

Said Pastor Steve Rose, class of 1967, and former reporter for The Highlander, “Each week students looked forward to seeing the latest news, from what was happening in the boys’ and girls’ dorms, off-campus with our village students, and alumni. The most read news was to find out who won the intramural games.” Another former reporter from the class of 1990, Kathy Smith Ross stated that “Not only did being on the school newspaper teach all of us essential writing skills and responsibility, but it was also a lot of fun!” Mrs. Coon was an excellent sponsor-no grammatical error was too small to escape her sharp eye. Marcy Evans and Mrs. Coon stayed on top of everything, making sure they covered all the major happenings on campus as well as other topics of interest, painting a beautiful composite of Highland Academy life through words.

In an interview, Principal Watkins was asked what he hopes the revived newspaper will accomplish. He said that this is another great way for students to be informed about what’s happening in our school. Additionally, he said, “It is a great way for students with a love for journalism, writing, and photography to use those skills in a more organized way and to possibly pursue them later on.” Several students working on the paper have already expressed an interest in pursuing a career in communications, journalism, and even photojournalism as they hone their skills in this new endeavor.

As a part of the Journalism Club, a partnership with Southern Adventist University Journalism & Communications Department was formed. This partnership of the schools has already proved successful in helping our newspaper staff prepare for their first issues of the school year with help in writing, editing, and proofing our paper before going to the press. As a bonus to our partnership with SJC (Southern’s Journalism and Communications Department), Southern has agreed to give scholarships of $1000 to those who attend Southern in the 2023-2024 school year that maintained a position on Highland’s school newspaper.

On December 1, 2022, students involved in journalism were invited by SJC, to attend a special event held on their campus discussing the importance of truth in journalism with special guest speaker Carl Bernstein, a journalism icon known for uncovering and reporting on the Watergate scandal in 1972. Not only did they get to meet Mr. Bernstein that evening, but Southern Adventist University also took the Highland journalists on a tour of their department. Students got to meet other student reporters and editors of The Southern Accent and ask questions about how to write articles, how to come up with stories, how to meet deadlines, and so many other intricate details pertaining to starting a newspaper. The Southern Accent staff discussed how they do things with their team and all the work that goes on behind the scenes of a newspaper. They gave Highland students a direction in which to start as well as advice and tips for moving forward.

Bringing back The Highlander to the Highland Academy campus will not only bring something for students to enjoy each month but will be something tangible they can hold onto as a keepsake. Parents, grandparents, and friends can view the newspaper to see what life is like for their students on campus. For students from the 1950s through the 1990s, some still look back and reminisce even today about their own Highlander articles. As the new journalism students and The Highlander staff, we look forward to the memories we will create for all the students to hold onto. We have nothing but excitement for the return of The Highlander!