The White and Blue Press is in its 6th year of providing great news for the Saint Robert community. The White and Blue Press has a lot of great articles, staff members, and reading community. The White and Blue Press had a small staff during the beginning years, but it grew and grew into a large community. There was a lot of progress of change as the years went by. Now, there are new leaders, article ideas, and lots more additions. Each year there is something new and something about the paper production changes.

The editor-in-chief of the White and Blue Press is the one in charge of the meeting. He or she helps with questions from the staff, works on his/her own articles, and leads he editing and publishing process. This is one of the most important roles in the White and Blue Press. The first ever editor-in-chief at the White and Blue Press was Mary Callanan.

She said, “As editor-in-chief, I was in charge of running our after school meeting, editing many articles that they were going to publish, and wrote articles.” The manager has lots of roles and one of the most important jobs. Now, the current editor for this year is Naod. He is an eighth grader. He said, “I really like being the editor of the White and Blue Press because I love writing and editing papers, and it gives me something to do after school instead of just sitting at my house.” The White and Blue Press started in 2013. The online newspaper was started by Mrs. Riepenhoff, a former St. Robert teacher. She said, “We had a very talented and motivated group of middle schoolers at the time. Many of them had won Scholastic Writing Awards, and I wanted them to have another authentic outlet for their passion for writing…Starting the online newspaper was a natural way to give them practice of writing nonfiction that was related to their lives.” This was the start of the White and Blue Press.

When she left, Ms. DeLapp took over as the new teacher advisor. There have been changes with the new people in charge. She said, “I did this because Ms. Beckman approached me and asked if I could take it on. I was hesitant to do this because I never been part of a newspaper staff, but I’m am happy now to have this job because it was a natural fit for a writing teacher.” Ms. DeLapp is a great fit for the White and Blue Press, and she continues to be a great helper in the White and Blue Press.  

The White and Blue Press has changed over the years – from news stories, article ideas, and staff. All of the changes happened when Ms. DeLapp first joined. She said, “Since I have been in charge of the White and Blue Press, the students have asked if we can do more advertisements because they wanted to increase readership, so we got Mrs. Lesjak to send out an email about the paper and the other teachers to encourage their classes to read. Another change  is the size of the staff In the beginning when I took over, there were 8 people on staff; now there are 22 people staff.” With the increase in staff members, new columns like a Fashion & Style column, Progress & Change column, and more have been added over the years. Plus the staff is able to publish two separate issues, which publish back-to-back over the course of two weeks.

The White and Blue Press has been through a lot of adjustments over the years and a lot of support has been given to the program. This is a great place for anyone who wants to write a story and share their ideas. The White and Blue is a success due to people like Mrs. Riepenhoff, Ms. DeLapp, the editors, the writers, and of course, the loyal readers.