A Tale as Old as Time

I have a tale, a tale as old as time to tell you. . .

The Knight Times is responsible for distributing the news and events of what goes on within and outside the halls of KHS. Most students now know it as the online paper, but the thing is, very few people know the backstory behind the Knight times. So begins the tale. . .

The Knight Times actually started at Winfield High School in 1949, the paper was called The Echo, and the yearbook used to be called The Atom. Ten years later, when multiple schools combined, both the year book and the paper were transferred to the newly built Knoch High School, and the name was changed to what we now know as the Knight Times. At the new school, it was a teacher by the name of Mrs. Thompson (no, not the same Ms. Thompson here now) was responsible for overseeing and production of the first year of the paper.

The yearbook was also advised by the same Mrs. Thompson who oversaw the paper, and the class called it The Lance. Not a whole lot changed with what was captured on the old yearbooks other than that there is more creativity with the new ones today. Most of it has to do with the fact that nowadays technology has changed so we can take better colored pictures and add lots of colors and such to the new yearbooks.

Not a whole lot of the content has changed throughout the decades; really the same group of things are reported (i.e. sports, clubs, events, any issues that arise). There are, however, interesting articles that caught my eye when scanning through past papers. For example, there was a piece in the eighties about girls smoking in the bathroom, and they suggested that mini smoke detectors should be installed in bathrooms.

Another interesting story was about big improvements for Knoch High School. Written in 1987, it’s a profile of a new principal who was coming to town; his name was James Ola. There was also an article about plans for improvements like repaving parking lots and roads, fixing the tennis courts, painting halls and lockers and expanding the Knoch Sport programs. (See Natalie’s article about new construction).

Some things never change and in February of 1986, I found an article talking about, you guessed it, scheduling issues. So, one of the guidance counselors, Mr. Walker, left for some reason, and a Mr. Dan Roenigk was there to fill the position until Mr. Walker returned. Alongside two other counselors, they would answer any questions and help out the best they could. The reason behind it was never explicit, but my guess is Mr. Roenigk didn’t have extensive experience with scheduling. So, in a nutshell, they too had scheduling problems.

For most of its time, the Knight Times was always printed and released on paper. That changed in 2017, when it was decided to transition most of the printed paper to online, so most of the edition would be released on a website. Our beloved Ms. Thompson was the one who made the decision change formats. Because it was digital, the time to release a new paper was cut in half.

“We are able to put out stories much more quickly. One of the difficult things about a printed paper is the time it takes to complete the layout of the individual stories, then the time it takes to combine them into a cohesive product, and then send them to the printer,” said Ms. Kelley Thompson.

That leads us to today; the Knight Times has been going on strong and all of the problems that it suffered during its release has been smoothed out. One more thing- make sure to read up on the Knight Times because you never know what you might find.

SIDEBAR: What is it you enjoy about Print Media?

Bryn:  “I get to express creativity in a way that I would not be able to if I did not take this class.”

Paige: “Um I’ve don’t this for a really long time and it is something that makes me enjoy going to school.”

Sam: “It made me find something I’m truly interested in which is writing.”

Natalie: “Listening to any time Bryn Reads her story out loud.”

Megan: “Last year when I accidentally called Dustin Schlagel short and Bryn laughed so hard she fell out of her chair.”

Cale: “When Paige asked if turkeys were birds or teaching Paige to make pancakes.”

Erin: “I like hearing Ms. T scream every morning.”

Jake: “This is one of the three classes I can tolerate.”

Jorden: “The only place I don’t want to cry at.”