The final bell of the day had rung an hour earlier, but twenty-four middle schoolers remained in a room tucked off the library at Roxboro Middle School. They sat in pairs and small groups at tables, quietly discussing, debating, brainstorming. Computers were open and questions like, “Do we all agree on today’s agenda?” and “What if we did it this way instead?” could be heard in the air.

This was the staff of the new student newspaper, Inky Stripes, a name suggested and voted on by students. One day a week this group of 6th, 7th and 8th graders meets under the guidance of teacher Suzanne Nelson to work on their next monthly issue. Ms. Nelson admits, “When I saw how many students had signed up, I really believed it was going to be a circus in here. But these kids are hard workers. They are so driven.”

Students get to choose where to focus their energy, from the Arts Department, which oversees the digital layout, to the reporters, photographers, comic creators, writers and editors-at-large. Seventh grader Corinne Gerdes, who works as an Editor and helps to determine which topics to include each month, joined “because I thought it would be interesting to give the school a newspaper.” She sees students, staff and parents as their target readers “because it’s mostly issues related directly to the school.”

The staff response to the first issue, which came out on December 1, was overwhelmingly positive. “Teachers started sending me emails the next morning,” said Ms. Nelson. “They were so excited and proud of the work their students had done.”

Producing the first issue was definitely a learning process. Sixth grader Charlie Sears, an Editor who “likes writing, and making and producing a product that people can actually use,” was surprised by how much the layout matters. “If something doesn’t fit, it can’t go in there.”

Enter 7th grader Jesse Bowling, Editor of the Arts Department. His group of half a dozen students use Canva to pick an editing layout, which they customize to their liking, figuring out how to fit articles, pictures, and extras like graphics and student-created comics. Jesse loves his role because “I get to see everyone’s ideas and read over everything.”

The Arts Department’s biggest takeaway from producing the first issue was that they needed more time once the articles were submitted. Ms. Nelson has now moved deadlines back so the layout group can get their work done. But, as Jesse says, “As long as we have great communication and input from everyone here at this table, it will be smooth sailing.”

Inky Stripes covers everything from school events and policies to current events, such as the launch of Artemis, a piece written by 7th grader Malcom McFarland who opts to write about science and engineering topics.

And of course, there’s room for student-generated comic strips. After agreeing that funny comics are harder to create, 7th grader Miles Campbell says, “Mine is more of a story that moves along in each issue.” The Adventures of Burt Brown was inspired by a fish that hangs from the ceiling of Ms. Nelson’s room, gifted by two former students who wrote an epic poem about Burt. Miles now has Burt and a friend escaping from the sea and finding themselves roaming a city. “It was a bit hard to figure out the story,” he says. “I thought I was going to do just one iteration of the comic, but I ended up doing two or three.”

Ms. Nelson, who was an English language arts teacher for many years and now teaches the Middle School Scholars Program, relishes the opportunity to work with words again. She’s been pleasantly surprised with how enthusiastically the students have embraced the task. “I put the structure in place and they just go with it. They’re really self-sufficient.”

The second issue of Inky Stripes will hit the digital stands on February 1.