I had lots of jobs at the Gallatin newspapers. But one that held some of the most interest for me was writing School News. I did this from fifth through the eighth grades. Then in high school I revived the school newspaper for the campus, but that’s a story for another day.

Dad came with me to school when we started School News. We visited each teacher. There were two each for grades one through six. And then students moved among six teachers in middle school, grades seven and eight. My job, unpaid I’ll add, was to go to each teacher and gather the news. Then, in the evening, I would write everything out so the typesetter at the newspaper would be able to read it the next day. I wasn’t investigating anything, uncovering injustice anywhere. I was simply going from class to class gathering information. But you gotta start somewhere, right?

A Small Status Symbol

This newsgathering was a little extra work for me, but I didn’t mind. I was a scrawny kid, the smallest in my class, and one with thick glasses. As a result, I never felt popular, certainly not pretty. I actually was a bit of a class clown. So this job gave me a bit of status, I think. It all worked pretty well. Sometimes the teachers had news and sometimes not. But as the column moved along, I think most felt it was in their best interests to have something to contribute.

The High School Newspaper Request

But then came a request from the big leagues! I was in the sixth grade when the editor of the Gallatin High School newspaper, The Gallamo, asked if I would prepare a column of school news for one of their editions. Wow, did my ego soar! I carefully wrote out my “school news” and turned it in at the high school, which at the time was next door to my elementary school.

Then, the editor asked me to turn it in typed! Me? A sixth grader? I was too awestruck to say anything, so I said, “Sure” although I had never typed anything except when playing around on my dad’s typewriter at home or at the newspaper office.

That night I spent a tedious and at times tearful few hours trying to get the school news in typewritten form. I was using two fingers at a time and working at my dad’s home portable typewriter set up at the dining room table. My parents could have helped me, I suppose, but I guess it was all part of a learning experience!

I was proud to see my column of news in The Gallamo when it came out in mimeographed form. There were no copy machines or computers in those days, and you may not know what mimeographed is. But to help you out, the process involved typing the manuscript or, in this case newspaper, onto a stencil. When placed on the mimeograph machine, ink flowed through the paper, creating the printed product. The illustration above may help you understand.