Hello! In this special article of The Courier, I’d like to introduce everyone to The Courier more thoroughly. We’ll look at the staff of Delbarton’s premier newspaper, the recent move to an online format at thedelbartoncourier.org, a behind-the-scenes view of how The Courier functions, and more.

The Courier has been the official newspaper of Delbarton for many years now. However, it only embraced its current form, that of an online e-newspaper, at the beginning of last school year. A few factors provoked this change. When we published on paper, articles only came out every few months, whenever the next issue was released. This meant that what was topical and current at the time of the author’s writing was old news by the time anyone read it. As an e-newspaper, we are always current and can even publish promotions for upcoming events with precision.

Furthermore, an online format allows for virtually no limitations on what can be written. With written issues, space had to be carefully allotted, giving each article its fair share, without many pictures (and certainly no videos!). Now, articles can be as long or as short as necessary, and can be filled with pictures to the author’s content. Even novels are welcome! We are also incorporating videos into the site to showcase various aspects of Delbarton life, such as musical events.

Lastly, a paperless Courier means, tautologically, no more paper. Delbarton always strives to foster care for nature and the environment, and be stewards of creation. By reducing paper consumption, the school works towards this goal.

The staff of the Courier is organized into a few tiers. First, there are the faculty moderators, Mrs. Sarah Loveday and Mr. Greg Wyatt, who are both very helpful in organizing meetings, motivating staff, and editing. Next are the two Head Editors, myself (Danny Maguire) and Shan Rizwan. We are both seniors, and our job is to make final edits on every article, and manage everything necessary. Working with us, the section editors each take on a certain variety of articles to produce and edit. Last but not least, The Courier relies on the general student body to write articles about their interests and activities.

The section editors are as follows:

• Delbarton Life: Matthew Harper ’18
• Sports: Chris Whelan ’17
• Opinions: Eric Hsieh ’18
• Arts: Yajur Sriraman ’19

For those of you who are wondering what goes on behind the scenes of our wonderful newspaper, we are happy to inform you. The writing process begins when a student decides to write an article. Shan and I provide article ideas to The Courier group page on Schoology on a regular basis, but anyone is welcome to write about virtually anything whenever he wants. Next, the writer sends his article along to a section editor, who makes preliminary edits and posts a draft onto this website. From there, Shan and/or I review the article, adding pictures, formatting, and making further edits before final publishing by a faculty moderator. With the new online format, the process has been streamlined to the benefit of everyone involved.

The one downside to not having paper issues is reduced visibility to students and families. Even though we have been using our site at thedelbartoncourier.org for a year and half, many do not visit it regularly. So, I strongly encourage everyone to look around the website, read a few articles, and perhaps most importantly, bookmark the web address so you can remember to come back and check in every once in a while. We generally post new content in bursts about once a week, and I promise there is wonderful, student-written material worth reading. We have a large variety of topics and everyone will find something to interest them.

Lastly, if you are a student and have not written for The Courier before, please consider doing so. It is not a burden, you operate on your own terms, and experience exceptional literary and journalistic freedom. This is your opportunity to join a community that allows you to share your opinions and interests with your peers.

Thank you for reading this special edition of The Courier. We hope you will continue to enjoy our amazing publication.