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There are many routes to a story landing on our front page.
Often the fast track is breaking news — an important announcement or a major incident.
Sometimes the path comes from an investigative project or feature that has been weeks or even months in the making.
And, of course, there are the national or international stories that come to us via news wire services.
In all my years at the Free Press, though, I can’t recall a front-page story with its roots in a school field trip to our newsroom.
Let’s back up to early January, when a group of Elmwood High School students paid a visit as part of our outreach efforts for the Free Press media literacy project.
We were showing them the ropes of journalism, but they also wanted to showcase what they were doing at school. Brimming with pride, they told us about Elmwood Supply Company, a student-led apparel venture designed to confront negative stereotypes of their diverse blue-collar neighbourhood – one sweatshirt, mug and tote bag at a time.
Demonstrating the kind of moxie reserved for hard-nosed reporters, they made a pitch for coupons that would give them 50 per cent off the price of a front-page ad to promote Elmwood Supply.
We told them the newsroom doesn’t get involved in advertising — but since we are always looking for good stories, we offered to spend some time at school to write about their business.
Elmwood High students with products from Elmwood Supply Company, their student-led clothing and keepsake brand. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
That led to feature writer Eva Wasney paying a visit to Elmwood to learn more by watching their heat press in action, to listen to the history of the initiative that’s now a credited course with a client list that includes the Winnipeg Sea Bears as well as the connection the students are building within their community.
“I found my style through (Elmwood Supply),’’ Ashyln Anderson-Williams told Eva as they talked about her Indigenous-themed art.
“It’s nice knowing somebody would wear something I made just because they like how it looks. That feels really special.” You can find Eva’s story on our website here.
On Saturday’s front page, the main story headlined “United in Grief” took readers to the vigil in Tumbler Ridge.
But after absorbing the latest from that school shooting, we thought readers could use something to give them hope, demonstrating the positive impact students are making at one of our schools. That’s why the Elmwood High students had their story graded A1.
Elmwood Supply Company on Saturday’s front page.
When we invited Elmwood High into our newsroom, we hoped we could teach them a thing or two about media literacy.
But after the week that was, I’m grateful for what we learned from them about their school, their community and the pride they wear on the sleeves of clothes they design.
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