Steinmetz Star – Steinmetz Star

Hugh Hefner to continue supporting the Star

Steinmetz Star — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 17:04:27 +0000

Playboy editor-in-chief Hugh Hefner, a 1944 graduate of Steinmetz, has pledged another five years of donations to pay for professional printing of the Steinmetz Star.

Over the decades, Mr. Hefner has made many donations to Steinmetz. Mr. Hefner founded Playboy in 1953 and is still currently its editor-in-chief.

For the past five years, Mr. Hefner has been supporting the Star. The photo at right, of Mr. Hefner with Star reporters Regina Crawford, Rafael Totoloxin, Datrin Butler and Takara Johnson, was taken on October 29, 2010, the last time Mr. Hefner visited his alma mater.

Hugh Hefner, his son Cooper Hefner, Playboy Playmate Anna Sofia Berglund and then-girlfriend, now wife, Crystal Harris Hefner, part of his 17-person party, enjoy a video produced by staff member Caludio Mendrano before he engaged in a Q and A with student reporters at Steinmetz on Oct. 29, 2016. Photo by Datrin Butler.

Mr. Hefner gave $22,080 to the Steinmetz Star in 2011, then sent the Star annual gifts in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 that totaled an additional $30,000. Mr. Hefner’s donations enabled Steinmetz to buy cameras and computers for the journalism class, and, most importantly to the whole school community, professional printing of the Star.

His pledge of five more years of printing will come with an additional $37,500.

Other news media have also reported the story, on the radio and television, and in print and online news services. See the following links:

http://www.splc.org/blog/splc/2016/02/hugh-hefner-pledges-thousands-to-save-a-high-school-newspapers-print-edition

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160224/belmont-cragin/hugh-hefner-saves-embattled-school-newspaper-of-his-high-school-alma-mater

http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/playboy-founder-hugh-hefner-renews-grant-to-fund-steinmetz-newspaper/

http://www.fox32chicago.com/news/local/99157927-story

http://www.poynter.org/2016/how-hugh-hefner-keeps-a-high-school-paper-going-strong/399130/

http://www.univision.com/noticias/periodismo/hugh-hefner-seguira-financiando-el-periodico-escolar-de-su-secundaria

The February 16, 2016, letter from Amanda Warren, the executive director of the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation, stating Mr. Hefner’s intent to Principal Stephen Nog, is published below. Readers may select it to see a clear image.

A happy new year for the Steinmetz Star

Steinmetz Star — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 14:44:15 +0000

The new year began with important wins for scholastic journalism at Steinmetz, as the following article shows, posted on Jan. 13, 2016, on the website of the Student Press Law Center.

High school paper’s article on bell schedule results in censorship, threats to cut journalism program

By Ryan Tarinell

ILLINOIS — High school reporters at Steinmetz College Prep had spent weeks working on a story about a change in the school bell schedule, even sifting through hundreds of surveys. Little did they know their story would initially be censored, even resulting in a threat from Steinmetz Principal Stephen Ngo to eliminate the 81-year-old school paper entirely.

“I kind of felt like all of our work was going to waste,” said McKenzie Lacefield, a reporter for the Steinmetz Star, which has a storied history as the alma mater of Playboy editor-in-chief Hugh Hefner, whose ongoing donations cover the cost of printing.

Now, following public outcry, two meetings between Ngo and the journalism class and some adjustments to the original story draft, the story is set to run in the January-February edition of the Steinmetz Star.

The new bell schedule, implemented this school year, pushed the school start time back an hour to 9 a.m. The article addresses the effects of the new bell schedule and includes data from a survey students conducted. In total, the student reporters received nearly 1,400 responses from students, parents and staff members. Lacefield said she felt like there was nothing controversial about the story and the reporters had aimed to present different perspectives on the topic.

And while Lacefield and Steinmetz Star Adviser Sharon Schmidt say the story was censored, administrators argue it was always their original intent to postpone publication to allow more time for reporting.

Schmidt, who is also a teacher at Steinmetz, said the trouble with the story started after she contacted Randel Josserand, Network 3 chief of schools for Chicago Public Schools, for comment on the survey.

Ngo, already upset at the tone of Schmidt’s email to Josserand, received the original article and decided to postpone its publication until the January-February edition to allow the students more time to conduct more interviews.

“I asked them to address some things that were missing,” Ngo said, adding that he wanted students to interview members of the local school council and the school nurse.

Although Schmidt returned a revised article days later, Ngo said he was too busy to review the article and decided to once again postpone the story until after the holiday break. Ngo said it was never his intention to permanently kill the story, but to postpone its publication to allow for further reporting.

“That was a big surprise to me and I thought it was very unreasonable,” Schmidt said.

Ngo began prior review of articles at Steinmetz in 2013 after a controversial editorial cartoon appeared in the school newspaper, something that troubled the local school council and school staff members, he said. He cited theHazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier Supreme Court decision as what gives him the authority to review content before publication. Hazelwood allows school officials to censor articles in student newspaper as long as there is a reasonable educational justification and the censorship is viewpoint neutral. Although he has been reviewing articles prior to their publication since 2013, Schmidt said this was the first time he has withheld an article.

There is currently an ongoing campaign in the state called New Voices of Illinois to pass anti-Hazelwood legislation that would protect high school journalists from administrative censorship.

Ngo met with the journalism class on Dec. 16 to explain his decision. Lacefield said Ngo did not directly answer any of the students’ questions and never gave a clear reason as to why he was censoring the article.

“It was useless, it was just kind of a waste of time,” Lacefield said.

Ngo said he reiterated his recommendations for further reporting in that meeting and had told the class that he wanted to postpone publication until after the break.

But to Schmidt, there was not much else to research or report – the students had spent weeks working on the story, she said.

Displeased with the meeting, Lacefield decided to publish the story on her personal blog two days later.

“I really thought that people should get it one way or another,” she said.

Lacefield said she didn’t want to wait for 2016 to see the story come out and knew school administrators could not stop her from publishing on a platform not affiliated with the school.

After Lacefield published the story online, Schmidt reported on the situation for Substance News, an online education news site. Local news outlet DNA Info reported on the censorship as well.

After Schmidt’s article was published, Ngo sent out an email to school counselors at 1:05 a.m. Dec. 26 stating there would be no journalism program next year.

“Scratch Journaism (sic) for next year. We will not be offering it anymore. There will be no more Steinmetz Star. I’m still deciding what to do with it for the second semester,” Ngo wrote in the Dec. 26 email.

“I thought that entire email was crazy,” Lacefield said. “It was not thought through.”

Schmidt said she was angry and hurt by the email, but was prepared to fight the administration to keep the paper running.

“I just thought it was ridiculous, because it’s such a good program,” Schmidt said.

Despite his email, Ngo said he has no intention of ending the journalism program at Steinmetz, adding that the students do a great job with the publication. Ngo said he wrote the email in an emotional state after learning that the stories were posted online.

After the holiday break, Ngo and Josserand met with the journalism class to talk about why they postponed publication of the story. Still, Lacefield said the class never received a clear reason why the article was censored in the first place.

“Overall, it’s been difficult to get answers,” Lacefield said.

While the Steinmetz Star will continue to publish a print edition through the end of the school year, Ngo said it’s still up in the air whether the Star will continue in its current form, as grant funding for printing is set to run out at the end of this school year.

While she is disappointed the story didn’t run last year, Lacefield said she is glad it will finally be printed in the student newspaper.

“I feel like we’ve won a war,” Lacefield said.

The Student Press Law Center is a legal and educational nonprofit defending the rights of student journalists.

Steinmetz Star print edition is available

Steinmetz Star — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 10:49:40 +0000

The long wait for the first print edition of the Steinmetz Star is finally over.

Get your paper by student services in the newspaper racks or in the Star office, Room 333. You can also read it online: http://issuu.com/steinmetzstar/docs/sept-oct_2014_steinmetz_star/1

For back issues of the past five years, go to our link at the top of the website “Print Archives.”

Dozens of journalism students and newspaper club members worked to create this issue. The following students’ stories, photos, and drawings are published in the issue:

Alexis Bamber, Aaliyah Collins, Felisha Cordero, Angel DeJesus, Desiree Erturk, Elizabeth Garcia, Kamari Joiner, Joslyn Hermosillo, Matias Kirk, Jennifer Liera, Angelica Lopez, Rosemary McGurn, Estephani Paredes, Li Nguyen, Jennifer Padilla, Delilah Perez, Maria Purisima, Marisha Reynolds, Emily Santiago, Emony Tate, Jailene Torres, Tatiana Turcios, Yureli Velazquez, Claudia Vidalon, Jamilah Zayas, Yadira Abarca, Agape Alfaro, Yeovanni Alvarado, Lesli Avila, Karen Bahena, Maria Barajas, Christian Baylon, Leslie Carmona, Kimberly Degante, Edmund Dones, Kimberly Degante, Brian Geans, Alejandro Hernandez, Luz Herrera, Monica Laddaran, Jayline Matias, Carmelita Mendez, Destiny Nedohin, Jane Nero, Elizabeth Patino, and Jalan Veal.

Many more students were pictured and featured in our articles. Thanks to all who who helped.

Star wins media awards, Michael Amaya is Chicago’s Student Journalist of the Year

Steinmetz Star — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 16:48:39 +0000

By Moriah Belt

The Steinmetz Star took third in the city for “Overall Newspaper” at the McCormick Foundation media awards ceremony at the Chicago Cultural Society on March 11. The annual event is open to all public and private high schools who join the Scholastic Press Association of Chicago.

Editor-in-chief Michael Amaya and several other Star reporters, and photographers won recognition. Individual Star staff members won many impressive awards, including the top category of Student Journalist of the Year. Star editor-in-chief Michael Amaya received the award, and a $1,500 scholarship.

“I was honestly surprised when I heard my name called,” Michael said, “I thought I was the underdog in the handful of nominees.”

Senior Michael Amaya, the Star’s editor-in-chief, is named “Student Journalist of the Year” at the 2014 McCormick Media Awards and Scholastic Press Association of Chicago luncheon. Star photo by Moriah Belt.

Star staff members won the following awards for their reporting, writing, photography, and art:
• Michael Amaya, Journalist of the Year
• Serlecia Jones, Excellent News story
• Victoria Boccia, Excellent Feature story
• Kamari Joiner, Superior Editorial
• Mateusz Gasienica, Superior Review
• Guadalupe Medina, Superior photo
• Francisco Holguin, Excellent original drawing and cartoon

The awards ceremony, following a pizza lunch, took place in a ballroom that overlooks Millennium Park, decorated with colored tiles and marble with a beautiful dome ceiling.

Whenever Star reporters’ names and their awards were called, the rest of the staff seated at three tables cheered and applauded wildly, hugged the recipients, and took photos.

“It felt like we were at the Academy Awards,” said adviser Sharon Schmidt, who also received a fellowship to attend a newspaper advisers workshop this summer.

Sophomores Brian Geans and Kala Geralds celebrate at the McCormick Media Awards. Star photo by Jalan Veal.

Contest judges ranked the Star higher than the newspapers of Lane Tech, Whitney Young, Walter Payton, and Taft high schools. Only Morgan Park and Marist received superior.

Judges said the Star was one of the best newspapers in the city because of its “good use of color,” plentiful photos, and “diverse and relevant” coverage.

“That evaluation means a lot,” Ms. Schmidt said. “We have always celebrated the diversity of our school in the Star, and worked to make our reporting interesting and important to our readers. We use a photo or a graphic with nearly every piece.”

Because Hugh Hefner, Playboy’s editor-in-chief and a 1944 graduate (who also was a Star reporter when he was a student) donates money to have the Star printed, Steinmetz is able to publish a newspaper in full color, in as many pages as often as we desire. Most Chicago high schools, especially neighborhood ones, are much more limited by their budgets, or neglect journalism and don’t cover printing costs at all.

As impressive as the look of the Star is the content, Ms. Schmidt said, which is equal to what is in Chicago’s selective high school newspapers.

“The Star looks great and also reads well,” Ms. Schmidt said. “Good journalism doesn’t require students with super high test scores; it takes work. Our motivated reporters are good listeners who work hard to write and revise accurate stories.”

The photography and art in the Star also represents talent and much work.

“I was so thrilled that Lupe and Francisco were recognized in the awards,” Ms. Schmidt said. “I don’t know how many hours Francisco has worked on his drawings, but I’d imagine it’s in the hundreds. I know Lupe has taken thousands of pictures this year. That’s how you get superior shots.”

Michael won Journalist of the Year because of his work on the Star over the past two years and the yearbook. Ms. Schmidt wrote a nomination letter and sent in many of his articles from several issues of the Star.

Roosevelt University Undergraduate Dean Linda Jones, the director of the Scholastic Press Association of Chicago, wrote the following in a letter explaining how to redeem his $1,500:

“Michael, congratulations on being chosen as the journalist of the year. I was one of the judges, and I thoroughly enjoyed your work!”