The song of censorship is increasingly becoming all too familiar for student journalists.

With the heightened political division in the U.S., school administrators are quick to strike down any stories…

House Bill 900 is requiring public school libraries to remove any books deemed “sexually explicit” from their collection, and teachers to keep a running catalog of books in their classrooms.

Originally…

Senior Sydney Rakowitz is the orchestra president, but she never wanted to join orchestra.

“Before middle school, I wanted to be in theater,” she said. “I did various (theater) camps. When my…

The day after winning the state championship for wrestling, senior Efren “Junior” Arizmendez was back on the mat – not practicing, but helping a younger wrestler prepare for his own state championship.

His…

When custodian Willie Grubb saw a house burning down as a junior firefighter, he didn’t hesitate to suit up and run in, saving a 2-year-old girl.

“I wasn’t scared, I had heart,” Grubb said. “I…

Senior Rowen Hamilton doesn’t even know where he wants to go to college, but he’s already passing bills for the United States government. Well, kind of.

This summer, Hamilton was one of two boys in…

American Sign Language 1 classes are online this year after losing an ASL teacher before the school year started.

Students are currently placed in a classroom led by long term substitute Tamra Carson…

Sore and exhausted, her eyes puffy from the 5 a.m. call time, senior Chaya Powell runs through each scene in her mind as she helps preset the stage. The stopwatch will soon start counting, and the one-act…

Rhaya Edison is described by her mom Danni as an extroverted, determined and fierce 12-year-old princess.

Rhaya also was born with spina bifida, a birth defect that affects the spinal cord and can…

Junior Cade Dornburg should have been at football practice. Instead, he was in the hospital, suffering from a stroke.

Dornburg was born with atrial septal defect, a heart condition that causes a hole…

When senior Jack Mudge went to work over Christmas break, he never imagined he would turn into a hero.

Mudge performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on an elderly man who collapsed, saving his…

Junior Charlie Hamilton has always known what he wants to do in life – a career in mechanical engineering. But unlike most students, he’s starting now.

In June 2022, Hamilton started his own business…

This story was originally published on Valley Ventana on December 13, 2022.

Junior Jada Cano’s definition of “normal” is unlike anyone else’s.

At the age of 2, she was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), but she doesn’t let that stop her.

“You don’t know…

Help wanted
Overwhelmed. Overworked. Underpaid.

After years of frozen salaries, coupled with increased stress, senior English teacher Amber Sladek decided to leave the classroom. Her last day was Sept….

After a Senior Night win over a longtime opponent, Selena Sifuentes Shaffer looked triumphant. Nothing about the match seemed out of the ordinary, save for a short scuffle afterwards. But as she beelined…

When freshman Chandler Fuller was picked up from school one ordinary Wednesday, she never imagined what they thought to be appendicitis would turn into something far more serious.

Alum Cody Fuller was…

With sweaty hands, I shook the hand of my neurosurgeon. I’ll never forget wheeling away from my mom, standing scared and alone.

The image of my mother while her daughter’s surgery went over the…

Underestimation is motivation.

These words ring through Sidney Coffin’s brain as she stares down the barrel of her 12-gauge Zoli Bella shotgun. In front of her, the bunker trap house holds 15 fixed…

The new variant of the coronavirus disease, Omicron, is spreading rapidly throughout the United States. USA Today reports the nation’s daily average of new cases as 550,000. Because this new variant…

Managing editor Emma Siebold sits down with S.U.R.E. club adviser Jimmy Wilson to talk about recent efforts to censor books in Texas public schools.

Here is a link to information and the list of books…

Managing editor Emma Siebold takes national and international issues and localizes them for the school community. In this episode, she talks with a local student who lives with diabetes.

This story was…

Managing editor Emma Siebold talks with local veterans about Veterans Day.

This story was originally published on Valley Ventana on November 9, 2021.