Get ready to turn the page Brecksville-Broadview Heights as The HyBreeze may be changing their name. After decades of storytelling, this student-led newspaper is ready for a new chapter. This change not only represents a fresh face, but represents the evolution of local journalism.
According to Annette Mantkowski, class of 1974 and member of the Brecksville Alumni Newspaper, The HyBreeze was started by a “prominent English high school teacher named Helen Fitting, who is a 1927 graduate of Brecksville High School.”
Fitting started her teaching career in the 1930’s and retired in the mid 1970’s. “We never did find out why she named it as she did,” said Mantkowski.
The process of The HyBreeze decades ago consisted of hand writing the articles, mailing them to a printing company and then once the papers were printed, they were delivered back to the school to be handed out.
These days, with the evolution of technology, our student-led newspaper can seamlessly integrate many different media components due to it being an online platform. This multimedia approach can increase the amount of learning students achieve, while also creating so many opportunities.
Kevin Jakub, BBHHS Principal, loves The HyBreeze and says he is “incredibly impressed” with the growth of the digital magazine. “From what it was to what it has become in a very short period of time is just an awesome reflection of the work of the students who are involved as well as Mrs. Milanich. I look forward to all the publications, because it is just so well done,” says Jakub.
Michelle Milanich, an English teacher at BBHHS, is also the advisor for the newspaper and proud to have a team of students ready to share local and even worldly news. “I think being the advisor is fun, but challenging. I want the work to be high quality and I want the writers to sparkle, so readers can see how talented they are. It is really hard to be a great writer and produce quality products because of the extraordinary amount of time it takes to research, write, edit, re-write and then figure out how to make it better,” says Milanich.
With many deadlines and most students writing two stories, it can become a lot. Luckily, with the addition of media components, the online paper has become more exciting to work for. Yet, with all these new additions, there is one thing that remains the same; The HyBreeze name hasn’t been changed in decades and nobody knows what it means.
”Honestly, I think the name is strange. I don’t know what it means or how it came to be, so I don’t mind changing it. With that said, I don’t want to offend anyone if we change the name, especially if it is meaningful,” says the advisor.
On the other hand, the school principal does not want to see a change. “Even though I can understand why people may want to see a change, I am a huge believer that your history matters and I think that at one point in time it was named ‘The HyBreeze’ for a reason. It is something that our alumni and people who are involved in our community have a deep connection with, that we might not even know about. I’m weird like that where I think your history is really really intricate into who you are and to where you’re going to go. So, I personally would vote not to change it,” says Jakub.
In the end, the decision is ultimately up to the readers and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights community. If you had the choice, would you keep the name or change it to give it a fresh face?
