Student Paper Hits the Web at Roxborough High

The newsroom buzzes as two reporters debate each other.

Editor-in-chief Markeith Morman maintains President Obama's State of the Union address was thoughtful and interesting. While reporter Daphnee Simprevil thinks it wasn't worth her time. The main question: Should 's student paper, The Ridge Record, include this in its spring editon?

With teacher Deborah Bender moderating the discussion, the students met to figure out what to focus their attention on for the paper's spring edition. Though a small staff, the students produced a crisply laid out four-page paper Dec. 16, covering the school's college fair and pep rally and including student essays and cartoons.

"My job is to keep them on task and have their strengths line up," Bender said. With a background in Web design, Bender helps the students with both the digital and print side of media. 

The staff is comprised of students with diverse backgrounds, and their brainstorming reflected that. The teens discussed dating norms of today, and how traditional stereotypes still are prevalent. Students with African American, Caucasian, Filipino and Haitian backgrounds weighed in on the roles they feel society imposes on them.

Bender helped shape the discussion, and it was decided that two students from different backgrounds will work together for the final piece.

Using Wix.com, the students work is published online, with the hope that the website will be updated more frequently as students become more familiar with the technology. There even is a mobile site for iPhone and Android devices.

Now that Roxborough is a , students can work on the paper for course credit. 

Morman, a junior, said he liked being in charge of the paper, but the responsibility is tough sometimes.

"It's not always easy to keep everyone on the same page, but I think we're working together. After the first issue came out, a lot of people were talking about it, and that felt good," he said.

For the 2011-12 school year, The Ridge Record plans to print three issues, with more frequent web updates. The balancing act of keeping news fresh was central to the newsroom discussion. Ultimately, Obama's speech was deemed too old to include for a March publication, but how the Republican Pennsylvania Primary impacts Roxborough High School is fair game.