Wood River High School's student newspaper has been canceled for the school year.
Principal John Blackman said Thursday that he regrets the decision but found it necessary because of diminishing enrollment in the elective newspaper class that produced Wolverine Prints. Also, Blackman said, a changed curriculum required him to transfer a teaching position from the English Department to math.
"It's unfortunate—it's kind of been a sacred cow around here for the last few years." Blackman said. "I'm supportive of the paper because I think we need the paper."
Nonetheless, Blackman said only five students were enrolled in the newspaper class for the first trimester, three for the second trimester and none for the third trimester.
"It's been cut as an elective because not enough kids signed up for it," he said. "I can't afford to pay a teacher for a class with only three students. That's not responsible use of the taxpayers' dollar."
Blackman said he's protected the paper for the last few years but new requirements in math forced his decision.
Darlene Dyer, who taught the newspaper class and served as advisor to Wolverine Prints, said she's disappointed with the decision.
"Our enrollment has always been low, but it usually picks up later in the year," Dyer said. "It's a real loss to our school. It's unfortunate because I think in this day and age literacy is becoming increasingly important and the newspaper helped provide that."
Editor Felicia Bauer, a senior who wrote for the newspaper her previous three years in high school, said Wolverine Prints provided information for the kids that they won't now have.
"It put information in their heads—they learned something new," Bauer said. "I was really looking forward to my senior year and writing for the newspaper. If it weren't for that class, I probably wouldn't have thought about journalism as a career."
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
