HHS Newspaper Club Welcomes Writers, Photographers, Cartoonists

Huntington High School’s student led newspaper is gearing up for what editors, writers, photographers and faculty advisors anticipate is going to be a great year. The Dispatch is published quarterly with a special edition issued for graduation in June.

English teachers and co-faculty advisors Aimee Antorino and Kristina Morell are beginning to hold meetings and organize a staff of reporters and editors for what the pair hopes is another volume of interesting and provocative stories. Copies of the paper are usually scooped up shortly after they are printed.

The newspaper club meets on Tuesday afternoons in room 252. “The Dispatch Club is more than just writing news articles,” Ms. Morell said. “We have photographers, sports editors, layout editors and even cartoonists. When we meet on Tuesdays after school we go through our agenda, play music and eat snacks to get the creativity pumping.”

Isabella Careccia-Johnson is the newspaper’s editor-in-chief. “I am excited for another great year,” Ms. Antorino said. “We had the largest staff last year that we had in a long time and many of our members are returning this year. We are always looking for new students to join.”

Interested in joining the staff of The Dispatch? Send a message to either Ms. Antorino (aantorino@hufsd.edu) or Ms. Morell (kmorell@hufsd.edu).

“One of our goals is to revamp The Dispatch’s website this year,” Ms. Antorino said.

A free and fair student press has a long tradition at Huntington High School, stretching back many generations. Student newspapers at the school have taken on a variety of names over the years, from The Dispatch of today, to The Devils Mirror and The Question Mark, which was born during the dark depths of the Great Depression.

Huntington senior Alphonse Bare founded The Question Mark in 1933. “The Question Mark, the students’ paper, which is sold every two weeks, is a very noteworthy publication,” according to the 1934 edition of “The Huntingtonian,” the high school yearbook. “Sports, chatter and school news are all included in the editions. The students all feel that the staff has been very successful this year and hope that the good work will continue through other years.”

Mr. Bare was an All-Suffolk football star who played tackle for four years under legendary coach William Class. He was also a member of the track team for three years, G.O. President, president of the sophomore class, vice-president of the freshman class, a four-year member of the Executive Council, a Masque club (drama) and prom committee member, on the yearbook staff as an art manager, a 1934 commencement exercises speaker and, finally, editor-in-chief of the student paper.

In 1935, The Question Mark became a weekly publication and “several contests have been added to its attraction,” according to that year’s edition of “The Huntingtonian.” The 15 staff members stood proudly outside Huntington High School (which was then located on Main Street at the site of the current Town Hall) for a group photo.

By 1936, The Question Mark had become entrenched in school society. Senior Curtis R. Wilhelm served as the paper’s editor that year and teacher Marion Van Arnam, a Syracuse graduate, was the faculty advisor. The staff included Michael McNally, Francis Whitby, Burton Whitestone, Florence Raymon, Henry Roy, Grace Semon, Francis McNally, Edwin Riggs, Muriel Raymon, Lois Aboff, Ida Gillman, Eugene Beitler, Adelaide Shaiken and Clifford McCartney.

“This paper has brought to the student body all news of interest pertaining to school activities including literary efforts in many fields and has provided entertainment and gossip of personal interest,” stated the 1936 edition of “The Huntingtonian.” “Among the most interesting of the 32 issues of the 1935-36 Question Mark were the eight-page Christmas and final issues, the notorious Burlesque issue, the Teacher’s issue and the Washington issue.”

Mr. Wilhelm, who was known as Kurt, was similar in several ways to Mr. Bare, the paper’s founder. He, too, played four years of football and he served on the yearbook staff and was a member of the school’s Executive Council. He was a four-year Glee club member and was The Question Mark’s sports editor as a junior.

The 1936 yearbook noted the student paper of that year “surpassed previous years in popularity and circulation.” That trend continued as students anxiously looked forward to each new issue.

Today, The Dispatch, which is distributed free of charge, is equally popular and continues to give students a forum to express their opinions and to keep the school community abreast of topics of interest. It has never been shy about tackling controversial issues. Mr. Bare’s efforts in organizing a student newspaper in 1933 are still paying dividends 91 years later.