Teen Reporters are Keeping a Wisconsin Community Informed

Amy Tubbs is a journalism instructor at Pulaski High School. You’ll find her teen reporters are considered a reliable source for local news. But now without a commercial newspaper, they are the only ones keeping their small Northeast Wisconsin community informed.

Tubbs oversees Pulaski News. The student-run newspaper was founded in 1942 — making it one of the oldest in the country. Jump ahead eight decades and it may be hard to believe, but for the 3,000 residents in this village west of Green Bay, it is their last way to stay up-to-date and connected. The students make all the decisions about what deserves coverage. They are out doing interviews, writing stories, and taking photos, and overall documenting the news happening there.

“Our students are out looking for stories,” Tubbs explains. “We try to find individuals that people may not know much about and tell their backstories. People are enjoying that, and they’re subscribing.”

The program also gives students true newsroom experience. The staff meets every Wednesday to discuss upcoming community and school events and assign who will cover it. They’re pitching other ideas, too — anything from new park improvements to quirky happenings — like a local doctor hosting a stuffed-animal “stitching clinic” for kids.

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Listen to an interview with Amy Tubbs, at the halfway point, here:

[podcast src="https://civicmedia.us/shows/matenaer-on-air/2025/11/19/vox-populi-hour-1"]

Learning journalism starts with learning to talk to people

One of Tubbs’ first lessons is teaching students how to conduct an interview. Many of them, she shares, are more comfortable texting than speaking with someone face-to-face. So, their first assignment is a simple one: interview a classmate and turn it into a staff bio.

“They’re a little nervous,” Tubbs says. “But by the end of the class, they’re confident and comfortable. And they always say the most interesting stories are the ones where they got to meet people.”

The students are coming into the program from all backgrounds. Some have been raised on information provided by newspapers, others are curious explorers, and a few end up drawn in through the broadcast journalism class itself. Those involved are also producing weekly video newscasts and providing live commentary for school sports.

However, the reporters with Pulaski News aren’t being sent to any public meetings with a possibility of it being contentious. Instead, Tubbs is teaching them the fundamentals of thorough reporting. She wants them to know their angle, ask follow-up questions, and gather complete information.

 “We want them to tell a full, accurate story,” she says.

The impact goes beyond the paper

Tubbs has watched and applauded as shy students blossom into confident communicators. Some graduates have even pursued successful media careers. One former student, Jacqui Banaszynski, was a finalist for the 1986 Pulitzer in international reporting for her coverage of the Ethiopian famine. She won the national AP Sports Editors deadline writing contest with a story from the 1988 Summer Olympics. And more recently, Bella Van Lanen received a regional Emmy Award nomination for a TV news special featuring Black History Month.

“Some of our students go on to report for local TV stations or work on their college papers,” Tubbs says. “It’s really cool to see where they end up.”

This area could have easily turned into a “news desert.”

Luckily, Pulaski News continues to connect residents to their neighbors, schools, and the stories unfolding around them. And for those teenagers in the newsroom, Tubbs believes the lessons go far beyond publishing a newspaper.

“Even if they don’t go into journalism, they are learning to communicate, be curious, and find meaning in the world around them,” she says. “And that’s powerful.”