Pleasant Valley High School’s news publication is one of the oldest and last remaining on a high school campus in Chico.
It isn’t clear when exactly The Saga started, but one teacher remembers working on it when she was attending high school in the ’80s.
The paper vanished in 2012 for nearly a decade, then reappeared in 2021 after COVID-19 quarantines were lifted. It made its return as an online outlet, and was reduced from a class to a club.
The student reporters of The Saga
The Saga is now run by its editor-in-chief and a team of seven reporters. Together, they’re responsible for keeping the site going.
On the only sunny day in the middle of a very rainy week, the team behind The Saga gathered to discuss their ideas.
As a club, their meetings are held during lunch for forty minutes. Since they try to release three issues per semester, things have to move efficiently.
Editor-in-Chief Alexis Oliver is in her senior year. She’s been on the paper for the last year and a half.
She’s in charge of leading the club while the adviser, Skye Maldonado-Lopez, sits back and occasionally interjects with an idea.
Oliver cares a lot about news, and she pays attention to what’s happening on campus. If a reporter has an issue or a question, she is the one to go to.
Oliver started the meeting by assigning some of her own ideas, including a feature on the new makerspace in the library and an interview with the new freshman counselor.
The floor then opened up for pitches from the student reporters.
“I think my favorite part of The Saga is seeing what my staff writers come up with,” Oliver said.
Several of the reporter’s ideas were about explaining confusing concepts to the student body. One proposed an article about the impacts of the Trump administration’s aversion to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies, while another wanted to write something explaining what a tariff is.
Oliver helped them think through and localize each story before approving the pitch.
The group then started discussing The Saga’s budget.
The student reporters are responsible for funding the outlet, which is an ever present challenge. They’re trying not to lose their paper like Chico High School.
Why student journalism matters
Chico High School lost its publication, Red and Gold, sometime before 2013. A Butte County-wide student newspaper project started after that, but according to one of its original organizers, funding ran out after three years.
The Saga’s website costs $500 annually to maintain, and prices keep increasing.
School policy also complicates the situation, as The Saga cannot receive ad revenue or donations. Students must fundraise to keep the site up.
The teamwork of The Saga’s members is essential to this, and it’s another one of Oliver’s favorite parts.
Ultimately, she’d like to see The Saga become a class again one day. However, a certain number of students must be enrolled before that’s able to happen.
“In my opinion, being a club can be limiting, because people might not have extra time outside of their school day to do additional work, or maybe they aren't motivated to do something that doesn't benefit them with a grade or elective credits,” Oliver said.
There are five categories which The Saga reporters can choose to write under: news, sports, lifestyle, features and an advice column called “Dear Destiny.”
Recent coverage includes student opinions post-election, the Christmas preview in downtown Chico, advice for finals and the retirement of Gayle Olsen, a former special education teacher.
Although Chico High School lost its newspaper, there is still a vibrant interest in journalism in the region.
The other online high school publication in Chico is called Purple Pages. It was started at the Inspire School of Arts & Sciences in 2021.
CORE Butte Charter School has a publication called The Lynx of Truth, which has had some of its content republished in the Chico Enterprise-Record.
Paradise High School also has a daily news broadcast recorded by its students.
