Students at Sachse High School continue providing coverage of campus activities and events through a publication created when the school first opened in 2002.

Currently, there are eight students who all hold the rank of staff writer at the student-led publication called The Stampede. The publication operates on a three-week content calendar where students spend about one week each planning, interviewing sources and writing.

Benjamin Smith, the faculty advisor for The Stampede, said the publication is a great outlet for students who want to share their writing talents with the Sachse High School community.

“Journalism is where the kids can take the skills they learn in English class and get away from the rigid requirements,” Smith said. “They are able to take their interests and get away with epistemic curiosity.”

Taylor Sampson, one of the eight student staffers, said that articles are reviewed by her peers in addition to Smith. At the end of the three-week content creation process, the students will turn in their work on two articles and select one for grading and publication as part of his class, said Smith. After being reviewed by Smith, the website is populated with articles.

Recently, he said he has been flexible with deadlines regarding an article covering National Signing Day because some sports happen later. 

Taylor added that she and other students enjoy getting to cover a wide range of topics that interest the student body, including school and sporting events, academics and fine arts. Students also write opinion pieces in addition to hard news articles.

Students said they mostly focus on homecoming and sporting events during the fall semester when those events are more frequent. By the spring, they added that they are branching out to write more enterprise articles or reviews focusing on topics of interest.

“For the most part, it’s whatever is happening,” said Danni Masoud, another staff writer. “A lot of times, it’s non-negotiable ones with football, spirit week and homecoming; those things have to be written.”

For the full story, see the Feb. 16 issue of The Sachse News.