The first edition of the Avonews usually comes out at the beginning of November, right around the quarter change. It is now the end of November, and the delay can hopefully be best explained by the wisdom I receive when I take a new quiz in calc: “The first time’s the worst time.”
Before the editing even began, we waded through a slew of technology issues. First, we took a roundabout method to secure a laptop that could run InDesign. Though there’s a desktop in the publishing lab, it’s very impractical to take home and work on or use after hours. After some initial back-and-forth, said laptop worked out quite well—except for the login issues, its struggle to sync Adobe Creative Cloud, and the two times it needed a special 48-digit code to log in after I connected the mouse. Oops.
InDesign was finally up and running, articles were coming in, and life was, for a moment, good. Unfortunately, one small printer (ours) in Western PA had two huge contracts to print direct mail to voters across Western PA, especially Allegheny County, frequently throughout October and early November, pushing our little newsmagazine back by two weeks.

This may seem like a non-issue (more time to put it together!), but in journalism, timeliness is one of the most important aspects of a piece. No one wants to read news two weeks after it happens—you’ve heard about it already. Quarterly newspapers like ours are also more difficult in this aspect, as our staff must focus more on the human interest in a story rather than day-to-day events, like you’d see at the New York Times. But, as with life, we adjusted: changed the sports articles to reflect the most recent records and games, updated the fall play article as performances had begun, and changed the election articles to reflect an event that was now in the past.
Then, finally (finally!), we were just a few days away from sending the first issue to the printer. But yesterday, while I sat down to eat my lunch in the peace of Mr. Tuffiash’s room, discussing the Avonviews, the fire alarm went off, we evacuated, and eventually were sent home. According to Dr. Hadley’s follow-up email, CO2 levels were increased in some classrooms, and the fire alarm was trigged because of a malfunction in the sprinkler system. Yikes. I never did get to eat my ham sandwich.
So, why am I writing all this? Not to complain, or to impress upon you that running a newspaper is difficult—it is. Running this newspaper is like a particularly long lead route on my first try: climb until I fall, sit on the rope, figure it out, try again, and repeat until the top. However, also like a lead route, our first issue is the product of good, old fashioned perseverance and a sprinkling of stubbornness. Like Frau often says, “If there’s a will, there’s a way—and I’ve got the will.”
Despite my will, it’s still frustrating. To continue with the climbing metaphor, it would be far easier to just give up when I’m stuck on a move or a tricky clip. Giving up doesn’t get you to the top of the route, though. Trying again and learning from your mistakes does. I’m very proud of this issue and everything it made it through to get into your hands. Let’s hope the next one is a little more precedented.
Read it here, or pick up a copy around the school.
Link to the Digital Version of the First Issue