Courtesy of Maria Parente

In pursuit of authentic journalism in New Haven? Look no further than the East Rock Record. 

The East Rock Record, a paper made by second through eighth-grade students at East Rock Community and Cultural Studies Magnet School, published its annual issue on Feb. 11. The organization meets once a week to craft a publication with article subjects ranging from the Beatles to the mayor. According to Laura Pappano, the head of the program, teachers and mentors empower students to both wax on what they think in opinion columns and cover pertinent issues in reported articles. 

Garrett Griffin, who started teaching at East Rock six years ago, was frequently interviewed by the East Rock Record. This year, he became a faculty advisor for the paper, where he helps students find their voices through the paper. 

“It’s a way for students to express their voices through their writing,” Griffin said. “They are focused. They enjoy taking the story from an idea to print.” 

Students ranging from ages 8 to 13, work together with faculty advisors and mentors to write a paper that covers News, Arts, Tech and Opinion. 

Students flex their unbridled imaginations to stick it to the man, as evidenced by their “Lunch at 10:40 AM?” piece in their most recent issue, which began, “Are you actually hungry for a burrito at 10:40 am?  If the answer is ‘No!’ then you have a lot in common with many students at the East Rock Community & Cultural Studies Magnet School.”

Pappano credits the fun and expressiveness to the principal, Sabrina Breland, who trusts the students and faculty to produce an exhaustively truthful publication. 

Breland, who attended East Rock in the first class of second graders in 1974, credited the newspaper’s success to its tight-knit community and committed mentorship. Mentors — Yale student volunteers who often have backgrounds in journalism and advise the paper — show up and know students’ names. Teachers run a well-oiled machine powered by visible, long-standing trust. 

“I think [the East Rock Record] shows students what they’re capable of,” Breland said. “It allows them to go outside of their wheelhouse because I think some students don’t realize how great they can be. And I think this is one of the clubs where students realize that their capacity to learn is limitless.” 

In their 10 years of operation, the paper has interviewed Elicker and police captain Anthony Duff. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the program online, but leaders maintained the entire operation, publishing online and inviting speakers who otherwise would be too far to reach. 

Pappano, who plans and leads meetings over Zoom, has been a journalist for more than 30 years. As a kid, she and her siblings produced a family magazine that propelled her from delivering newspapers at dawn to The Boston Globe, The New York Times and Vanity Fair. Now, she writes and volunteers for East Rock, copy-editing and fact-checking each issue before distribution. 

“The point of [the East Rock Record] is really to broaden their horizons, and really reveal to them all kinds of possibilities that are out there,” Pappano said.

To follow up with their published newspaper, students are currently working on video journalism projects, where they expand work in the print newspaper through a visual narrative. 

Han Pimentel-Hayes ’27 led one of the groups preparing for a video journalism project on The Beatles. She works with the East Rock Record every week to ensure that young students feel valued and empowered within the East Rock community.

“I love being part of the East Rock Record because I love to see how creative students get with their ideas,” Pimental-Hayes said. “I love to see their personalities shine, and all of their interesting experiences and opinions.” 

The newspaper’s annual edition is available at the mayor’s office, New Haven Reads, IRIS, The Study, City Hall, The Children’s Room in the Ives branch of the New Haven Public Library and the North Haven office of the Diaper Bank of Connecticut.