Senator Gershaw students ensuring In Our Community publication continues to be successful

A year ago, students at Senator Gershaw School in Bow Island began publishing the In Our Community publication. A mainstay in Bow Island, Foremost, Burdett and area for many years, the school bought the business when the former owner retired.  

“It’s a service our community wants and we had the infrastructure here (at the school) so we bought it,” said Principal Scott Angle. The publication is still run as a business with students applying for positions and getting paid through a profit-sharing system. Three students - editor, finance and publisher/editor - are employed and the more advertising they bring in, the more they earn.  

Advertising is beginning to branch out of Bow Island, with some coming in from Seven Persons and Medicine Hat recently. A website is being added soon and there is currently both a paper and online version available.  

“It’s almost all student run and we’ve added a hometown hero to recognize people in our community that do great things,” stated Angle. “We’ve been doing it for about a year now and it’s been fairly successful.” 

It’s not only about advertising, in addition to the Hometown Hero feature, In Our Community also lets those reading know about upcoming events.  

Grade 9 student Alayna Martens was hired as the editor this year and appreciates she can do the job during school hours once her other schoolwork is complete. She is gaining valuable work experience and learning new skills – software programs, communication skills, editing and how to formally reply to an email – along with engaging as a team member.  

“My job is to reply to emails and ensure everyone knows what we are doing. I tell the boys if there are ads we need to do. It’s fun and a great experience,” said Martens.  

In Our Community comes out once a month and is delivered through the post office to each mailbox free of charge. Student employees will also deliver copies where needed. Martens puts in about 12 to 13 hours each month and works each day to keep up with incoming emails.  

“I think community feedback has been quite positive, the Hometown Heroes has really brought some light to different people and made people realize there are lots of organizations out there. I look through old newspapers or online, then call people to ask them if I can do a write up on them,” concluded Martens.  

By Samantha Johnson, Prairie Rose Public Schools Content Writer