What once was an English room feels more like a newsroom. There’s a frantic energy in the air. Miranda Shandell ’25 and Orla Maxcy ’25, editors-in-chief of the new AFS newspaper The Blue and White, are hovering over a laptop, furiously typing and workshopping their announcement message to the school. But it’s already official: as of Thursday, October 19, 2023, AFS once again has a student newspaper.
Huddled behind them, their faculty advisor Daniel Benjamin scrolls through his phone, carefully scanning the metrics for their website. “There are already 700 views,” he announces – and those have just been in the last hour. The group cheers, but there’s no time to celebrate. Off to the next pitch meeting – off to the next issue.
There hasn’t been a student-produced newspaper in over a decade, something Orla and Miranda wanted to correct. “We wanted a creative outlet for students to come together and offer an AFS lens to events, to news, both inside and outside our community,” says Orla.
They knew it would be a lot of work. They needed a staff – writers, editors, photographers – they needed a timeline, they needed a website, they needed a name. “I was overwhelmed at first, because I wasn’t sure how much interest there would be,” explains Miranda. “But when we had our first pitch meeting, and so many students showed up ready to contribute, I was so inspired. We received so many pitches.”
It also helped to have Daniel as a guide. Daniel came to AFS from the Baldwin School, where he helped to produce and mentor their student newspaper endeavors. “It was amazing to have someone who knew what we had to do,” says Miranda. “The last time the school had a magazine, it was all print – online student news is a whole different experience.”
While The Blue and White is an extracurricular activity during club time, Daniel is clear that like most clubs, it is both an enormous commitment and an incredible opportunity to participate in a collaborative effort like making a newspaper.
“Students grow as citizens through journalism,” says Daniel. “By making their ideas public, they can encourage real change in the ideas and actions of others. Editors, in particular, have a vital leadership role. Editors uplift and support the voices of their peers, and they can highlight key issues that need more attention from the community. Newspapers are complex organizations with a variety of tasks, deadlines and diverse constituencies. Students become leaders by learning how to manage each of these roles.”
The students take this responsibility seriously as well. The editors met with Head of School Rich Nourie to discuss censorship and how to cultivate the paper as a safe space for students to express their feelings authentically. “As writers and editors, we really value the Quaker testimonies as a foundation to establish a quality journalism environment,” explains Orla. “It’s important to pursue truth in order to establish justice. That’s our philosophy. That’s why we need to be careful of censorship. But with that responsibility, it’s equally important to make sure we’re respectful of one another.”
This first issue reflects their mission boldly: Among other piece, Priyal Sanathara ‘25 wrote about the power of feeling represented as a First Generation kid of immigrant parents; Helene Mogul ‘27 highlighted ways to help support disaster-stricken areas in Morocco following the deadly earthquake there; and Rainy Korein ‘27 spoke with the Upper School Theatre team to talk about the upcoming production of The Wiz and the power of lifting up Black voices in the arts.
Daniel is really proud of the accomplishment. “The team did such amazing work getting this out so quickly, and with an array of really interestingly written articles that show what students want to write about and care about.”
With plans to release an issue every month, there’s no more time to talk – The Blue and White has deadlines to meet.
