Published: April 1, 1996

The Front Page

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Three days to publication and the journalism classroom at Birmingham High School looks like the Los Angeles Times in miniature. Students input last-minute articles, proofread copy, examine, criticize, and change layout, argue over headlines and bylines, debate front-page articles. When the dismissal bell rings at 3:05, no one leaves. Students know what has to be done in order to send the Courier to the printing company at eight the next morning.

When the 3,000 papers arrive later in the week, we sort them by homeroom and stuff fliers that advertise driving schools, tanning salons, tuxedo rentals, and pagers. We distribute the papers on campus and mail them to other high...