The HHS newspaper, The Clarion, has been around for many years and it has changed and developed over the years. The current Clarion staff researched old yearbooks and online sources to find out the history of the school newspaper.

The newspaper was originally started in 1934 which was one year after the school’s completion in 1933. The oldest year book that the school library currently has on display is 1948. That year was the first documentation of The Clarion in a yearbook.

In 1958 the newspaper was being printed and sold at 10 cents per copy. In 1966 The Clarion began to staff students that had taken a course in Journalism, the same way it is done today. The Clarion stood strong for many years, until around 1993. Due to a lack of students interest in writing for the newspaper, The Clarion was ultimately eliminated for a few years.

In the meantime Mr.Van Winkle started his career in 1996 here at Hawthorne High School as a hall monitor. Little did he know that one day he would bring the Clarion back.

I had a chance to ask Mr.Van Winkle, the current adviser of the newspaper, a few questions to get  his view and opinion of his experience running the newspaper.

Clarion Reporter: What year did you bring back the newspaper?

Mr. Van Winkle: The Clarion made a comeback in 2000-2001, my first year as an English Teacher here at HHS. Because of my background in Journalism, I was asked by the principal at that time to bring the school newspaper back, which had been dormant for so long.

Clarion Reporter: What were some changes you made to the paper over the years?

Mr.Van Winkle: The biggest change, has to be the fact that The Clarion is now an online newspaper. In the “Old Days” so to speak, we had to use a program to layout the newspaper…and once it was laid out, we had to put it on a Zip Disc and ship it to a company in another state…who would print it and ship it back to us. Then we would bundle them up and send them out during homeroom.

Clarion Reporter: Who were some of the best writers in the past.

Mr. Van Winkle: There were so many great past writers…Beth Alimena, Cielle Tousignant, Shana Matari…so many come to mind. We have so many great ones now!

Clarion Reporter: Where do you see the Clarion going in the future?

Mr. Van Winkle: I see The Clarion getting bigger and bigger. More writers each year, adding video to the site with reporters interviewing people and covering events…that’s what I would like to see.