Who’s Been Reading this Teen Section? Surprisingly, Adults

By ALYSSA PATRICK
EISENHOWER HIGH SCHOOL

During the past 10 years, Unleashed has picked up an unexpected audience: grown-ups.

Turns out everyone from parents and teachers to other community members and leaders seems to like to see what teens have to say.

While this wasn’t the intended effect of Unleashed, it was a nice surprise. In fact, it even makes sense; those who seem most interested in the teen-produced section are those who want to better understand the opinions and actions of teens.

“It gave us the privilege of hearing from young people across Yakima County and helped us to remember that the process of becoming a citizen with a voice in the community starts at a very young age,” said 59-year-old Barbara Greenberg, former president of the Yakima school board.

Greenberg has been an avid reader of Unleashed since its first edition in 1999. Later, her daughter, Katie Greenberg, a 2006 Davis High School graduate, wrote for Unleashed.

“I take my hat off to the Herald for providing leadership and for creating Unleashed,” Greenberg said. “I think any community that does not listen to the voice of its young people is missing a very large and important segment of the population as it considers where it is and where it should be going. … ”

Carol Mills, a 62-year-old social studies teacher at Eisenhower High School, has also been a fan of Unleashed since Day One.

“It shows the many dimensions of young people, displays their culture, and is overall well-written and accurate,” said Mills, who serves as the school’s yearbook adviser. Many of her students have gone through the Unleashed program.

So have students at La Salle High School, where 39-year-old campus ministry teacher Ted Kanelopoulos has used the teen section in his classroom.

“If we are discussing controversial topics in class, I will often bring in a related article to add something else to consider,” he said.

And the past 10 years have definitely offered a wide variety of topics that have stirred up conversation throughout the Yakima Valley.

One of Unleashed’s first staffers wrote a column about what it was like to be a teen mother. Another wrote an opinion piece that criticized President Bush. Both pieces drew letters to the editor from numerous disgruntled readers.

For Mills, that’s one of the best parts of Unleashed.

“Letters to the editor will either comment on how great the staff is doing, or challenge a reporter’s position,” she said. “They start a conversation with the student, which is a great experience for him or her, and a nice representation that the community is reading and responding to Unleashed.”