We missed our anniversary. If you study last year’s HiLite covers, you will notice that the volume number is shown as 56, making 1954 the founding year of our newspaper. The HiLite staff, however, knows this to be false—probably due to a mistake sometime in the last half-century—because we have a Pinnacle yearbook dating back to 1935 that references the HiLite.

According to that source, last fall marked the 75th anniversary of the HiLite student newspaper, but our staff unfortunately did not realize this until late last school year. We missed a golden opportunity, but there is a simple alternative. This first issue of the now fixed volume 76 is the opportune time to celebrate our 76th year of publication.

The foremost objective throughout our history has been to provide quality news that is pertinent to the students at CHS. Past staffs have taken the initiative to cover controversial issues with the utmost professionalism and sensitivity. Previous topics have ranged from the student body’s thoughts on the racial desegregation of African Americans by redistricting to women’s positions in predominately male-dominated fields. We continue this tradition today with the coverage of subjects such as homosexuality and obesity.

Throughout the course of its history, the HiLite has become a nationally-recognized scholastic newsmagazine. Both the print and online editions of our publication have earned awards from organizations such as the Quill & Scroll International Honorary Society, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the National Scholastic Press Association, just to name a few.

The HiLite has certainly changed significantly in the past 76 years; we have evolved from a two-page pamphlet to a 32-page newsmagazine (except for this first issue). However, our goal has remained constant.
We dedicate this issue to our anniversary and to our  mission to bring timely and relevant news to student bodies past and present.

Click below for the cover story graphic:

HiLite Through the Ages 1, HiLite Through the Ages 2