'Reality Check' continues to win prestigious awards
By Rebecca Ray
For the second year in a row, the publication, Reality Check, has won an award. An extracurricular activity at Los Gatos High School, the publication is funded by voluntary contributions.
At the Santa Clara County School Boards Association's annual dinner on Oct. 25, the association presented Reality Check and eight other school programs in the county with Glenn W. Hoffman Exemplary Program Awards. Last year, the California School Boards Association honored Reality Check with a Golden Bell Award--Reality Check's first award--at the California School Boards Association's 20th annual luncheon in San Francisco, as an outstanding "student support" program. District Superintendent Cynthia Ranii nominated Reality Check for the Hoffman Award .
"To have it be recognized and honored the way it has been has been amazing," Nancy Offer, Reality Check advisor, said. "I think it's wonderful that there's something out there that points to all the wonderful things kids are doing."
Twelve male and female sophomores, juniors and seniors comprise the Reality Check staff, which produces about one publication each month. Each issue addresses a real, yet often unspoken, topic that affects teens, such as tobacco and emotional intimacy, the subjects of the past two issues.
Newsletters open with anonymous, unedited writings by students who describe their personal experiences, feelings and ideas related to the subject. "You can read the stories and realize you're not alone, that others are going through what you're going through and feel the same way you feel," sophomore and first-year staff member Ricky Gelber said. Staff members have added that the stories also make parents and students' peers aware of students' struggles.
Following the stories are professional advice and insight from Sue Patagalia Shoff, who has a doctorate in psychology, and a list of resources that teens who seek help or further information can use without going through their parents.
The Santa Clara County School Boards Association gave the staff members of Reality Check a plaque that will hang in the school after the holidays. During the break, at the staff's annual party, Offer will take a photo of each student with the plaque to honor them for their dedication. Offer predicts that nine or 10 of the 14 former staff members who have graduated will attend the party, and she plans to take photos of them with the plaque. Many of the graduates still receive copies of the newsletter and provide feedback, Offer said.
Staff members make 98 percent of the decisions, according to Offer, while Shoff and she answer questions and provide guidance. Each year, the staff members select mature, responsible students for the next year's staff, while ensuring there is an equal number of males and females and a balance in social communities.
Staff members are also responsible for mailing the publication to the homes of the students whose parents choose to receive it. At the beginning of each semester, the staff mails parents a form that lists the upcoming topics. If parents do not want their child to receive a particular issue, they circle the topic and send it back to Reality Check.
Everyone has an equal voice, Offer said. Rather than holding the same positions throughout the year, staff members take turns coordinating issues and handling various other responsibilities.
Offer and LGHS student Lauren Goodwin, who is now a junior at Santa Clara University, started Reality Check in spring 1997, to give voice to the pains teens were facing and to try to make a difference in their lives. Offer and Goodwin had met while serving on the Community Against Substance Abuse (CASA) community organization, where Offer was editor of the newsletter, and Goodwin was a student representative.
Although Offer was not employed by the high school district, the administration let her advise Reality Check. Offer had an emergency teaching credential and had edited the CASA newsletter for three years. The Reality Check staff launched the first issue in October 1997.
When Reality Check won the Golden Bell Award, Goodwin was amazed. "I am awestruck that something, which I truly believe has impacted students' lives began so small and so simply," she wrote in a letter to the staff.
Staff members have put their hearts and souls into Reality Check, and it's nice when people outside the high school community recognize that, said junior Natasha Wilder, who has been on the staff for two years. The staff members will not let down the readers, the students who write the stories, or each other, Wilder said.
"I think it's great that Reality Check is getting so much acclaim, having won the Hoffman Award and the Golden Bell Award the year before that, but Reality Check is still the same,"
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
