ABOUT | NP Cougar Chronicle

Hello, We Are The Cougar Chronicle

Since 1972, New Prairie High School has maintained a student-run newspaper as a long-standing tradition. From the beginning, The Cougar Reporter, advised by Blaine Gamble, established high standards as it was recognized as one of the top student newspapers in Indiana by a Ball State University scholastic press contest. The Cougar Reporter was originally printed in the New Prairie High School business department on Roneo duplicating machines, hand collated, and stapled for distribution. The Cougar Reporter was renamed The Cougar Chronicle in the mid-80s by then-adviser Ann Kindt. Later, during Frank Hobart’s tenure as adviser, The Cougar Chronicle was published by the New Prairie Town Crier in LaPorte.

Since then, journalism students, under current adviser Chrystal Wilkeson, have changed the format of the Chronicle to keep up with rapidly changing technology. After New Prairie initiated its one to one technology program by lending each student an Apple iPad in 2014, The Cougar Chronicle staff produced its first 100% digital issue using Apple iBooks Author, publishing nine issues in Apple iBooks between December 2014 and December 2015. Because iBooks are not available to everyone, the staff ultimately decided to publish as a website on the Internet.

The Cougar Chronicle is created during Newspaper Publications Lab. Staff members each have a specific job covering student life, technology, opinion, news, sports, and arts and entertainment. Student photographers and artists provide illustrations or other visual elements for each article.

The process begins with brainstorming ideas for the upcoming issue. After ideas are finalized, the staff spends a week researching, interviewing, and composing. On the day of deadline, the work is subject to editing until the it is flawless. Then the webmaster updates the website for publication. In order to create a unified looking paper, fonts and text sizes remain consistent, and each article must be illustrated. The entire process usually takes about a month.

We encourage your interaction with staff members through email correspondence and submission of letters to the editor intended for publication on the editorial-opinion pages. The opinion pages are to be a forum of expression. Editorials will comment on relevant issues and attempt to influence the student body and the surrounding community. Their function is to condense problems, issues, and events, evaluate them, and recommend a course of action. Guest editorials are subject to approval by adviser and staff, but will occasionally be printed. Letters to the editor are welcome. They must, however, not include invasions of privacy, personal attacks, or libel of any sort. Names will be withheld upon valid request, but a verifiable signature must accompany each letter. These pages are open to free expression of ideas from students, staff members, faculty, parents, and community members. The Cougar Chronicle reserves the right to edit any submission without changing its substance or to refuse to print any letter based on a decision by the adviser and staff. Submit letters to the editor to npcougarchronicle@gmail.com.