Jill's Journal: The press is rolling once again at BVHS!
Brandon Valley High School once again has a student-produced newspaper, thanks in large part to senior Ben Livingston. He was the mover and shaker behind bringing The Lynx Lookout to fruition. The Lookout staff will report on BVHS news, sports, arts, school events and the like.
I’ve known about the Lookout for weeks now. I even tried to do a story on it when I first caught wind of the idea, but was asked to hold off until plans were further along. You can bet I’ll be following up on the idea in the next week or so.
Livingston is the lead editor and founder of The Lynx Lookout, just as I am the editor/publisher and founder of the Brandon Valley Journal. I imagine Ben had some of the same encounters that I did over seven years ago in establishing the Journal. For starters, there were calls to be made, meetings to schedule, staff to hire, equipment and supplies to secure, a location to office in, mailing permits to obtain, and more. Both the Brandon Valley Journal and BV Trader needed to be named, designed and made worthy enough that businesses, organizations and the like would want to invest marketing dollars into.
Just like Ben, what I had going for me is that I knew the greater Brandon Valley community and its people, and I had a strong desire to continue to tell our story in both words and photos.
Ben also has that same desire. In his introduction article, he tells how he learned that BVHS previously had a newspaper, The Echo.
“He (Principal Mark Schlekeway) pulled out antique 1970’s editions of ‘The Echo.’ It was surreal, to say the least. He handed me the copy to me and it was like opening a time capsule. Inside, headlines read, ‘School buses may lose AM radios,’ and ‘Trees removed from courtyard.’ (We had a courtyard back in the day?!) Those were paired with grainy photos and old advertisements. It was quite interesting to see what people our age were writing and thinking about back in the 70s.
“It opened my eyes and showed an unknown era of Brandon Valley High School history. Moreover, I kept reading and read the headline, ‘Echo, Lynxonian capture honors.’ Turns out ‘The Echo swept all possible honors in their categories at the South Dakota State High School Press Association,’ back in the day earning All-State ratings.
“Looks like ‘The Lynx Lookout’ has big shoes to fill.”
I, like many of you, well remember The Echo. It could be read online, but it could also be read in print, too. Since I arrived in Brandon in 2005, I made a point to pick up a copy when it was available.
It brought me back to my high school days, where I was on the staff of our paper, the Saints Reporter. I even served as one of the page editors – sports, if I remember correctly – during my senior year. I was giddy every time I spied my byline in print, because print was all there was back in the early ‘80s.
I’m sure I didn’t write anything worthy of a Pulitzer back then, but honestly, it was this very hands-on opportunity that steered me to a career in community journalism.
Today, my byline is all over this paper. While I may not be as giddy as I once was about seeing my byline in print, the Journal is more about you, the folks that the staff and I keep in mind each week as we plan and execute those plans week in and week out.
To Ben and his staff, I hope you, too, find the same satisfaction in telling the stories of BVHS and its people that we do, and that you, too, may experience those same giddy feelings of seeing your byline.
Let the press roll on!
