By MARY MANDLEY
Editing Adviser

Hello Sparta,

Being the rookie journalism teacher at Start has been an absolute blast.

When I first agreed to the position, I could in no way envision producing a school newspaper that went to press and left inky residue on your fingertips. I mean, I have an app for everything (including my news), so why would I run the journalism program any other way?

However, my master’s is in English, not software engineering, so how in the world could this ever happen? The managing editor of the Blade, Dave Murray, got a bee in his bonnet to show his TPS pride and share his gift of journalism with our Spartan community.

One phone call leads to another, and now Dave is part of the TPS family and making my vision of a digital school newspaper a reality. The stars aligned, and I was blessed with five eager writers whose infectious enthusiasm affected Dave and me.

The ideas are boundless and other students have been pouring through my door looking for an opportunity to write.

Yes, students are excited about writing. More importantly, they are writing about what is fresh and relevant to our learning community.

LifeAtStart.com focuses on the most important part of this great high school, the people.

I know first-hand what amazing families live in West Toledo because they are my neighbors. I not only work in the community, but live less than two miles from the school.

I am proud to be a Toledoan and LifeAtStart.com is yet another amazing opportunity this city has opened up for me.

What is important to you? These are the topics we want to cover on this site. I want this site to showcase the best asset of Start, the students. I am counting on the students to keep this site fresh and relevant because let’s face it, I just used the phrase “bee in his bonnet” as if you would know what that means – HAH!

Dave and I need your help to make this truly student driven and not lame. So, I look forward to more of you popping in my room, interacting with my staff, and seeing all that LifeAtStart.com can be.

What a great START!

Take a minute and think about what it means to be a Start Spartan? The first things that come to my mind are:

• Earning a quality education in a state-of-the-art school.

• Excellent teachers who are committed to the academic success of their students.

• Awesome extracurricular activities, including sports, clubs, and band.

• Developing friendships that will last a lifetime

• Being TPS PROUD and Spartan PROUD!

The list is endless. While your ideas of what makes Start great will differ from mine, the one thing we can all agree on is that there are exciting things happening at Start High School and we want to share that excitement with the entire community. Through a new partnership with The Blade we are able to do just that.

Everyone is excited about the new website, LifeAtStart.com,  which delves into “the good news” at Start. The unique aspect of the website is that the content is driven by the students, written by the students, and managed by the students. With the assistance of  Dave Murray from The Blade, the students in Mary Mandley’s journalism class have taken this simple idea and made it a reality.

Developing strong relationships in the community is part of the districts’ new Core Commitments. Students at Start High School are gaining valuable, real-world, experience in working directly with Mr. Murray and learning from his experiences in the field of journalism. It is my goal to offer similar opportunities to students across the district by partnering with other business leaders in our community. I would say the positive outcomes that are evident with this initiative at Start are certainly a shining example of what can be done when we work together.

Dr. Romules Durant
Superintendent
Toledo Public Schools