Barbara Goleman reinstates newspaper after eight years

During the summer of 2018, senior Guadalupe Cabrera and junior Chika Ojukwu founded The Vanguard newspaper at Barbara Goleman Senior High (BGSH). This was the first time in eight years since BGSH allowed students to pursue their journalistic creativity.
The first paper, The Gator Times, was cancelled in 2011 after, then teacher and newspaper sponsor, Robert Inza, took a new position at the school and no one wanted to succeed him.
When asked how he felt about the cancelation of The Gator Times, Inza said, “I knew with the caliber of students we had, there would be a student led paper in the future. I didn’t know for sure what form it would take but I knew it was coming.”
Since the last article The Gator Times published, there has been a gap in the journalism community at the school. And it wasn’t until this year when Cabrera and Ojukwu joined forces to make a change and continue the legacy Inza left behind by launching their online newspaper: The Vanguard.
The term ‘Vanguard,’ meaning pioneer or leader in new developments, was chosen as the name of the paper because creating a paper was like “heading into uncharted waters since there was no guidance, experience, or support” says Ojukwu.
The Vanguard’s aim is to continue the legacy The Gator Times left in the heart of the swamp, allowing a student-led paper to educate their fellow pupils about issues on a local and national level, including many topics pertaining to their interests and concerns.
During the first stages of The Vanguard’s birth, the online publication added as many articles as possible, capturing the attention of many individuals of the student body who had something to say; a story to tell. Being this inclusive in-staff representation created an atmosphere of excitement that rippled across the school among students and teachers alike to read the print version when it was announced.
“I never thought the newspaper would be brought back to life so seeing it in my hands again was a pleasant surprise. To have a voice in school is a really important thing and the Vanguard provides us that,” said 11th-grade student Julian Camejo.
In this manner, The Vanguard discontinues the silence and brings anew the noise of fact. For these reasons, they have adopted the motto “delivering the truth” which acts as a statement of dedication from staff members to the student body, representing the manifestation of their words on the page.