For four years, Nora Miller has labored over misplaced commas, tight deadlines, photo captions, and lunch-time interviews. But Miller’s most important endeavor, the Evanston Township High School senior and student newspaper executive editor said, has been driving the Evanstonian’s coverage to be more inclusive.

“Sometimes it’s rough being in such a White space,” they said. “We’re prioritizing the stories that are impacting students more and looking to reach the larger community.”

Existing within Google Drive folders and Zoom rooms, the Evanstonian has continued operating through almost a year of virtual school. The three classrooms it once occupied sit abandoned. Students no longer huddle in packs, debating diction and layout.

But Miller said they think the pandemic has re-energized the staff. Armed with new ideas and angles, the student journalists focused on writing “powerful” stories — some of their top pieces have touched on unemployment, misogyny in the classroom and the labor of teachers adapting to Zoom school.

In December, the Evanstonian published a well-received four-page feature illuminating how students have managed their mental health over the past year. The mental health feature sparked dialogue on campus and led the ETHS administration to call a meeting with the Evanstonian’s editorial board.

This month, the Evanstonian will publish an issue reckoning with the paper’s racist history. The issue will only feature writers of color.

John Phillips, the Evanstonian’s faculty adviser, credits the work ethic of students like Miller for the paper’s renewed focus.

“We’ve tried to really decenter the White voices that have been staples of the Evanstonian since its founding,” Phillips said. “Not only is the writing a powerful reflection on what it means to be a part of a student paper that doesn’t or hasn’t historically valued you and your voice, but also the opportunity to put that out into the world and re-envision what the Evanstonian can be.”

The staff has collaborated with the ETHS group Students Organized Against Racism to facilitate dialogue about diversity and inclusion on campus. To build community and raise awareness, staffers attend SOAR’s monthly equity workshops. SOAR is also helping them craft their special February issue.

Phillips said the paper’s transition online has improved staff communication and proactivity, and students are still cultivating deep relationships with each other. Nonetheless, reporter and ETHS junior Sophie Yang said she’s homesick for her community at the Evanstonian.

She misses scurrying around the halls for teacher interviews. She misses early morning meetings with friends, coffee in hand. But virtual school has afforded her more time to write about what she loves — TV and film — and help advance the Evanstonian’s mission.

“We want to uplift voices,” she said. “Nothing’s perfect yet, and we’re not trying to be perfect.”

Miller said their peers find the new focus “comforting.” Phillips said the staff’s commitment “humbles” him. Yang says it’s an ambitious “work in progress.”

Miller’s work is not done — The Evanstonian will continue to publish and progress. But right now, they’re “happy,” they said.

“I’m proud too,” Miller said. “We’re just trying to make the community better.”

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @ejun_kim 

Related Stories:

— ETHS to open some in-person activities in February

— ETHS students team up to offset school paper usage through tree