Mission Statement
The Troy High School newspaper, the Oracle, is a tri-weekly production of the Advanced Journalism class. The 2018-2019 team is comprised of a staff of 28 students and is supervised by the Oracle advisor, Mr. Gonzalez. Production, design and distribution of the newspaper all occur during second period in rooms 315 and 316 throughout the school year. Our paper is entirely student staffed, produced and led by an enthusiastic lineup of writers, photographers, cartoonists, graphic designers, business administrators, film producers, website managers, editors and editors-in-chief.
As our name may suggest, the Oracle is dedicated to providing our campus with a student voice. Students that join the Oracle come from all backgrounds and harbor various talents, but the one characteristic that we all share is our passion for broad awareness and active engagement. It is our mission to interact closely with our student body to discover relevant news on both an on-campus and national level so that we may better inform our community about the important events that happen all around us. Being a part of the Oracle allows us to do that in various ways, whether it be writing articles, drawing editorial cartoons, designing analytical graphics, snapping meaningful feature shots or managing behind-the-scene processes.
The story of the Oracle dates back decades, and this year’s staff is in the process of documenting the entirety of our rich history with the new implementation of this website. Throughout the 2018-2019 school year, our interim Communications team will be committed to establishing the framework for a sustainable website that will house our most recent articles as well as those dating back to the 1980’s. Past issues will be made available on the website throughout the year, starting with the most recent volumes, and we hope that our readers will enjoy discovering the steady evolution of our paper by perusing the productions of our predecessors.
Above all, the Oracle prides itself on its preservation of meaningful journalism. In the modern day and age, there are those who may allege that traditional print media and newspapers altogether have lost their relevance and power to transform society. We disagree. Newspapers may need to make themselves more visible and accessible, but they must never lose their roles as key informants in an occasionally misinformed world. Even at the high school level, the Oracle team strives for the best standards of professionalism in offering our campus the high-quality journalism it deserves.
Where there is dedication, ability, passion, resolve and vision, there will always be possibility.
Sincerely,
Ariana Chow, Co-Editor-in-Chief (2018-2019)