South Pointe principal takes student newspaper SPIN seriously

Leonard recognized for support of student paper

By Shawn Cetrone - scetrone@heraldonline.com

Jessie Fields' and Amber Giles' stomachs turned as they walked down the hall at South Pointe High School that morning.

The day before, Hannah Hinrichsen, a foreign exchange student from Germany, had died unexpectedly while she was home from school sick. The Rock Hill campus was in shock. Classes stopped, and students poured into counselors' offices to cry.

Fields and Giles, both 17-year-old reporters on the school's newspaper staff, were dispatched to the chorus hall to interview a group of Hinrichsen's friends who had gathered there.

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Neither of the student reporters had ever spoken with someone grieving over the death of a loved one. It felt like an intrusion.

“If it was me, I wouldn't want to talk to anybody,” Giles said.

“Me, neither,” Fields said. “I hate it.”

They went anyway, hoping Hinrichsen's closest friends would offer insight about her personality. Deadline was that night for the paper, SPIN, for South Pointe in the News.

Numerous awards

SPIN launched in 2006, a year after the school opened. Since then, the semi-monthly publication has racked up numerous awards in and out of state, standing out as one of South Carolina's top high school student newspapers.

On campus, the newspaper disappears fast. When it's published, students wheel a cart full of the latest edition into the cafeteria during lunch. For a recent issue, “We printed 1,700 and that wasn't enough,” said editor Michelle Pesa, 17.

The paper publishes a mix of hard news, opinion and features in color and black and white. The most recent issue reports on the school district's budget woes, South Pointe's new Gay-Straight Alliance club and the girls' swim team. On the opinion page, Editor John Penyak, 15, argues that administrators shouldn't confiscate students' cell phones. In the Student Life section, reviewer Ana-Cathryn Biham gives Lil Wayne's September performance in Charlotte high marks — “This concert receives five horseshoes from me.”

SPIN also takes on tough issues, sometimes ruffling feathers.

Several teachers were upset last February when an editorial in the paper chided the school's advanced-level International Baccalaureate program. “Our IB program is not run with the efficiency needed to fully benefit the students involved,” the article said.

Teachers asked the school's principal, Al Leonard, why he let them publish it.

Leonard sided with the students, explaining it was their right.

Students said the program has since improved.

That's the kind of support they need, students said.

“He's amazing,” said Pesa, who meets with Leonard weekly to discuss issues. “It's important for students and everybody to have freedom of speech. We can actually get into controversial topics.”

“He doesn't hold us back from anything,” said junior DeNarius Allen, 16.

“He's taken the risk of letting us say what we want to say,” Giles said. “I really respect him for that.”

Leonard has been recognized nationally for his support of SPIN. In 2008, the Southern Interscholastic Press Association, which includes 15 states, named him Administrator of the Year. On Saturday, he'll be in Washington, D.C., to accept an award from the national Journalism Education Association, which just named him Administrator of the Year.

“It's refreshing when you get an administrator that's so supportive,” said Linda Drake, who leads the association's awards committee. “It wasn't just newspaper students. He wanted all students to be able to express their ideas.”

Prior review

As principals around the country crack down on student publications, student press experts say school leaders like Leonard are rare. Many principals read articles before publication. If they don't approve, articles must be rewritten or scrapped.

“I understand where they're coming from,” said Karen Flowers, director of both the Southern Interscholastic Press Association and the S.C. Scholastic Press Association. “Principals are afraid of images. But what they should be afraid of are students who don't think.”