The Westminster Paw Prints newspaper is produced by a Middle School journalism class learning about reporting and writing. We are a student-produced publication, not an official mouthpiece for The Westminster Schools. As our newspaper only has fourteen writers, our staff is always working hard to give voice to the Middle School students. The articles our readers see include tons of research, editing, and rewriting before we believe they are newspaper ready. Our staff writes the stories that we think would be most helpful to read about.

Our staff published an opinion column a few weeks ago about the 2020 election that generated some disagreement, and we would like to address our readers about our editorial goals and policy. We publish two different types of opinion pieces. We publish opinion columns in which an individual writer voices his or her own opinion. We also publish staff editorials, like this one, which represent the collective opinion of the entire staff. The column in question was of the first variety, written by a student who feels strongly about politics in the United States. This article was a single writer’s opinion column, and, while it did not speak on behalf of the whole team, the whole team supports his right to do so. The writer decided to get his opinion out and inform, but not offend. Anyone on the staff could have written an opposing piece, but no one volunteered. Therefore, nobody wrote one. 

As a publication, we believe that it is essential for all students to have an opportunity to voice his or her opinion in the Middle School, no matter your beliefs. We believe that everyone should also have their own ideas independent of anyone else. In every situation, if debated enough, ideas can go either way. That is no different for the writers of the Paw Prints. Even in the publication room, there are disagreements and debates. There is not a single person in the world who believes that his or her opinion is wrong. However, in the end, all of us, writers, and non-writers alike should realize that no matter what the outcome of the discussion was, we are still in this together and we still want to hear each other’s voices.

We would like to end by emphasizing as much as possible that we love to hear our reader’s opinions. We look at everyone’s opinions when we receive them, and we encourage everyone to leave a Letter to the Editor in the paper. We thank you so much for supporting this newspaper, and we cannot wait to continue being your voice for the Middle School and keeping everyone up to date with current community events.