THE HAWK EYE NEWSPAPER
A student founder's perspective on the student-run newspaper
My name is Leah and this year, alongside my two co-leaders, Tansi and Elviira, we put together a student-run newspaper at ACS Hillingdon: The Hawk Eye.
The student newspaper is an initiative that we started to address the need for a discussion platform that can facilitate student agency across our school. The Hawk Eye not only informs about what’s going on, but also advocates for our fellow students’ interests, bridging the gap between the staff, student representatives, and the remainder of our student body. Through this paper, our main goal is to help create a feeling of community and common identity within our school.
We find that having a project to focus on outside of our coursework, especially one that is driving positive change, is incredibly motivating and really comes with a sense of purpose. There are constant challenges, from meeting deadlines to navigating controversial articles, but the opportunity to develop our creativity and bring forward ideas worth discussing makes it worthwhile.
I love bringing together the students’ hard work to make something meaningful.
One of the most rewarding aspects of running the newspaper is the positive reception from our readers each month. Our peers engage with The Hawk Eye through our Monthly Polls column, where students from grade 8-12 fill in a form regarding a different theme for each issue, our social media and website. Most recently, we’ve also added an advice column which we plan to implement for our February issue. From teachers and parents we often receive commendations on our work, particularly our efforts to promote inclusivity through our stories. However, our most popular feature by far- with both students and staff - has been Humans of ACS.
Humans of ACS is a feature where we interview a different member of the non-teaching staff at our school every month. The article is inspired by the Humans of New York project beginning in 2010, a collection of photographs and interviews of over 10, 000 New York citizens. We believe these articles are our most important because, as students, it can be easy to overlook those working behind the scenes who we may not know from the classroom.
Writing the article gave me the opportunity to interview our transport coordinator, Mick, who I see everyday, yet some of the things shared in the interview I would have never known about him.
I had no idea that Mick was an artist until I saw his portrait in the last edition. I was so impressed by his work that it inspired me to approach him for a conversation.
The Humans of ACS article is always my favourite because I myself am also learning more about my community, looking at life at ACS Hillingdon from a different perspective. Guillermo Aguiar's above quote conveys what I love most about the column, it’s all about using storytelling to bring people together. A better sense of community has also been a school-wide focus ever since the disconnect caused by the Covid-19 disruption.
The Hawk Eye is a media outlet providing a voice that is heard. More than just reporting, we’re promoting different perspectives and understanding of one another.
As we look ahead, our team intends to continue this initiative, advocating for the creativity and agency our student body has to offer. Reinforcing ACS Hillingdon’s sense of shared community and identity through every story we tell.
