From four students to 18, the Oak Hills High School Newspaper staff is growing at rapid rates. The newspaper, better known as the Tartan, is the beloved school newspaper at the local Cincinnati school, but over the years the participation and honor that it brings has decreased. The Tartan Digital Print and Production is a class where students are self-led, writing articles for the school newspaper. In this class, these students learn how to properly report on current events and interview important people to add value to their articles. As of the 2023-2024 school year, there were only four students contributing to the newspaper, and with that in mind, teacher Courtney Vaive knew there needed to be a change. When I asked her what she did to gain more students’ interest she mentioned that, “Mrs. Tuchfarber and I petitioned to get the class changed, to create a credit and an honors course rather than an elective.” When thinking about this, it makes people wonder, why were students not interested in contributing to their community? But now with it being a credit, students enjoy The Tartan thoroughly. While talking to former student Kilean Aguilar, and new student Bri Brown about their experience, and how the future awaits.
Kilean Aguilar, who is returning for his second year on The Tartan told us “I liked the class before it was a credit, and the teacher was great!” Aguilar is coming back for his second year on The Tartan and is just as happy to be there again even though it is now an
honors class and English credit. To add to this Bri Brown mentioned she “knew about The Tartan, because I aided for the class last year.” Had Brown not moved her study hall to that classroom, she would not have known about The Tartan even though she is a passionate writer who believes “it’s fun to write about current events.” Because Brown had told us that she likes to write about current events, we asked if she wanted to have a career in journalism, and her response was surprising. Brown stated, “I do not want a career in journalism, but I think if you have a free bell, it’s definitely a fun bell to fit in.” Through this, it’s important to understand that students at the local school would enjoy the class, had they known about it earlier in their years at Oak Hills High School. From four small solo voices to a now overfilled room of 20, the local school’s Tartan Newspaper is now a bustling strong team.
