I grew up in a small city in a small state – Wilmington, Delaware. Wilmington
is only 20 minutes south of Philadelphia and so every day, I would read the Philadelphia
Inquirer in the morning and in the evening, my local newspaper and the Philadelphia
Daily News.

The Word was my high school newspaper. We were a staff of six. I was the only
person on the staff that wanted to write sports. My English teacher, George
Dunkleberger, was our adviser and he would sit at his desk, puffing on his pipe, as we
put together our four-page, mimeographed paper.

High school journalism is one of the best experiences a student can have because
it instills the values of free press, free speech and free spirit. Scholastic journalism is a
vehicle of expression, a way to raise issues, provoke controversy and have fun. The
bottom line is that high schools are a better place for having a newspaper because the
lessons of free expression and of a society based on the free flow of information are the
essence of our democracy. As the late Al Neuharth said, “a high school without a
newspaper is a poorer school indeed.”

This handbook for first time high school journalism advisers is just that: a
handbook. This is not the be-all, end-all book that will teach you everything you always
wanted to know about high school journalism but were afraid to ask. There are some
fabulous books that delve deeply into writing, photography and video, design and web
design.

My goal with this handbook is to get you off on the right foot the first time you
meet your eager journalism staff so you will know what an inverted pyramid is; or how
to most effectively crop a photo; or know what a Center of Visual Impact is.

Also, please know that this guide is a work in progress. I look forward to hearing
from as many first-time advisers and I am confident this handbook will be revised many
times.