At 7:30 p.m. on a Monday night, a group of student editors work in a cramped basement room ardently designing pages of The New Trier News, eating pizza and finishing layout to send to the printer.

Many former editors of the News fondly recall the chaos and deadline pressure in that basement newsroom as among their best high school experiences.

They learned lessons of teamwork, leadership and problem solving. They built friendships that lasted beyond high school.

Today, some of those NT News alumni criticize the administration’s decision to cut back the print edition to five times a year.

For the news staff, the process of designing the layout of the print paper fostered an important sense of community, according to 2013 alumni Jessie Webster.

“From a social standpoint, I have so many wonderful memories from the time we spent as a group in the Newsroom, especially during layout nights when we had to order in food because we were there until 8:00 or 9:00 at night,” Webster said.

We are disappointed with the decision to cut print editions

Students mourn loss of print edition

Why our print paper is important to us

Other alumni, such as Craig Segall of Class of 2000, emphasized the experience showcasing their work to peers and teachers.

“Seeing your name in print matters, especially for students starting out,” Segall said.

Aside from the social positives, many alumni reflected on the lessons they gained from working as reporters. Andrew Van Herik, who worked on the paper from 2004-2007, recalled the unique skill sets that the news provided its writers with.

“I remember learning about the minutiae of language, like the difference between healthy and healthful, and carefully considering how every choice we made in that little room could change the course of the week, month, or year for other students,” said Van Herik. “The weekly printed paper was a clear and consistent way to develop our skills not just as journalists, but as human collaborators making a consolidated creation.”

2013 Alumni Abby Glickman said the news helped her become a better team member.

“One of the many great things about the newsroom is that you learn how to be responsible for your own tasks and work as a team to accomplish a common goal.”

The original reason stated by the administration behind the newspaper cutbacks was environmental; the printing of a monthly newspaper wasn’t consistent with “our environmental goals”, Principal Denise Dubravec said in an interview last fall.

These goals apparently not only affected the newspaper, but other mass-printed paper products.

“Some of the Communications Department has moved all of our district printing to all online: the Guidebook, the Course Catalog—we print a few, but we stopped printing a lot of these things,” Dubravec said.

Yet, many teachers who have always appreciated the paper, such as English teacher Matthew Bourjaily, question the legitimacy of this justification.

“I think the cons outweigh the pros significantly,” Bourjaily said. “I haven’t seen enough patterns at New Trier that we’re really trying to save paper.”

Many alumni feel similar to Bourjaily. Harry Kroll, Co-Editor in Chief of the News in 2013, said that the school’s sudden eco-friendly sentiment is merely a facade to the real justification behind the cutbacks: the printing of the newspaper isn’t worth the school’s time and resources.

“By the administration’s logic, New Trier basketball games could be simply streamed online, because parents and fans driving to games use carbon-emitting fossil fuels and, to use the school’s absurd phrasing, ‘preferences of key stakeholder audiences’ of sports are shifting toward watching at home over attending games,” Kroll said.

According to Kroll, decision makers are not prioritizing the ‘environmental impact,’ as they cited. Rather, Kroll said, “this is about dollars and cents and the school deciding that students reading the New Trier News isn’t worth the cost of the paper to print it.”

Alumni and teachers alike praise the sense of community fostered by the print newspaper.

When physics teacher Ryan Dunn first heard the news of the cutbacks, his initial reaction was one of “frustration and confusion.” He observed that before, the papers were read during adviseries regularly; even after the administration has provided an explanation for their decision, he believes that “the case hasn’t been made.”

”The student body in general is less aware of what’s going on around them as far as activities, events and clubs, fellow students, as well as the school at large,” said Dunn.

Alumni Carol Japha, the co-feature editor of 1961-62, also noted the significance of the paper within the NT community.

“Having the paper in hand every Friday informs, opens up discussion, and helps bring the student body together,” said Japha.  “In a school as big as New Trier, anything that builds a sense of community is especially precious. New Trier should be working to counter, not further, the threats to print journalism–a bedrock of our democracy.”

Reading the newspaper had become second nature for the students, according to social studies teacher Todd Maxman.

“It was a part of your Friday routine. It was like when I would sometimes go to my box too early and they wouldn’t be there and then you’d be like, ‘It’s Friday, where’s the newspaper?’” Maxman said.

Bourjaily felt the same, saying, “the newspaper day was an exciting day in advisery because it was always on Fridays which was great, and we’d have breakfast and read the paper, and talk about especially the cover stories which were usually the bigger news.”

The power of the news followed many alumni throughout their adult lives, influencing their college experiences and future careers.

After his time as an editor, Van Herik majored in English and philosophy at college and later became an English teacher, in part because he enjoyed “helping other writers find their stories.”

“My students often remark on how helpful my specific feedback about their writing is, that I look beyond whether they are fitting a paragraph mold and into how their every word choice flows with their purpose,” said Van Herik. “Thinking about it now, I think being able to work on a weekly student paper generated those skills my students find so helpful today.”

And although the online version is seemingly well-received, the absence of the physical newspaper is a concern to alumni and teachers.

“Though I absolutely think New Trier should also invest in a great online presence for the News, I hope false economies are not retiring physical copies prematurely. I’d encourage the school to revisit this decision, and to ensure a good number of regular printings,” Segall said.