I wrote an opinion article about how the Shawnee Dispatch does not cover De Soto High School sports last May.

The Shawnee Dispatch covered Mill Valley High School, Saint James Academy, Shawnee Mission North High School and Shawnee Mission Northwest High School sports last year.

In my article, I talked about how two out of those four high schools are not in the city of Shawnee and, with the help of SJA and DHS administration staff, showed how more DHS students live in Shawnee than SJA students, disproving two major arguments as to why DHS was not covered.

After my article was published, the DHS journalism teacher, Michael Sullivan, received an email from Jason Kendall, an editor or the Shawnee Dispatch, explaining that there was not enough staff to cover DHS as well as the other high schools.

Kendall then suggested that The Green Pride send in sports stories for them to publish in the Shawnee Dispatch. This way, DHS sports can be covered and solves the staff issue for the Shawnee Dispatch.

As a beat writer for the DHS cross country team, I went to most cross country meets and saw a lot of journalists interviewing teams, including the Shawnee Dispatch reporter.

Our very own Sam Hubert was interviewed many times by the Shawnee Dispatch about his performance in the meet.

Along with Hubert being recognized in the Shawnee Dispatch, The Green Pride’s editors-in-chiefs, Sydney Hoover and Emma Bascom, have had their beats featured in the Shawnee Dispatch for DHS’ football and volleyball teams, respectively.

The Shawnee Dispatch employees has kept their promise, and the Shawnee Dispatch posts stories about DHS sports, which has helped our staff members reach a significantly larger audience with their work.

As our sports stories get more views, it pushes the staff to write better and more professional stories.