Students at Oakmont Regional High School have been learning about journalism and the future of news through their work on the school newspaper, The Oakmonitor, which recently finished second among all schools in New England in the New England Scholastic Press Association’s best online news website rankings.
The recognition highlights the efforts of dozens of students involved with The Oakmonitor. About 20 participate through a journalism class, while others contribute as part of an after-school club. Their website features a variety of content including feature articles, trend pieces, news reports, op-eds, sports scores, and cafeteria information. Staff members aim to publish around two articles each day.
“This is something that has grown so much, because of the dedication of the students and their willingness to work and try new things,” said Mark Nevard, who teaches the journalism class and advises The Oakmonitor. “Everything they’ve achieved is because of them. This is something that happens very much in front of me, not because of me.”
Students are engaging with journalism during a time when artificial intelligence and social media are rapidly changing how news is produced and consumed. Media literacy among high school students has also been declining according to recent studies. “When I first took the class, I thought it was mostly just learning how to write better and maybe talking about the news,” said Mikaela Groncki, a senior from Westminster and managing editor of The Oakmonitor. “I don’t think I really understood we would be producing our school’s newspaper. I think we’ve really tried hard to show everyone’s opinion and be a good source of news.”
Many students say they get most information through social media rather than print newspapers or traditional websites. Reagan Bouchard, one of two editors in chief from Ashburnham said: “A lot of students are on their phones all the time, so we have made an Instagram account… When we cover sports games…we post information about the game and link to photos…to try and get those readers more interested in our coverage.” Bouchard shares leadership duties with fellow editor Kaitlyn Renda; other staff include Groncki as managing editor; Samuel Belcher as sports editor; Weston Cinclair as design editor; Cara Landry as music editor; Megan Vance; and Grace Alato.
Content ranges from serious topics like teen pregnancies—requiring principal approval—to lighter features such as Instagram reels asking students about their height followed by measurements for accuracy checks.
Bouchard explained that student reporters must interview different people for every story: “We have a rule where you can only interview someone once… We are also trying to get people from different grades…if you are going to…get a bunch guys from a sports team you should also get some kids from band or something else.” Many staffers have worked on The Oakmonitor for years.
Renda noted that skills learned working on The Oakmonitor will help beyond high school: “We focus a lot on grammar in this class….and I think that really helps in other English classes as well.” Nevard added: “I think what works is that everyone is able to find their niche…. We had some chatty boys in class so we thought why not start podcast with them talking about Oakmont sports? That is what has made paper work so well: Everyone open new ideas reach students.”
