The Prospector, a student run newspaper, is a valuable part of Manitou Springs High School history. Unfortunately, after changes in teacher leadership six years ago, it began to fizzle out.

“I was really sad that The Prospector had slowly started to die because, when I got here, it was award winning and they had podcasts and all sorts of things,” said Amanda Kerrigan, the current journalism teacher.

Kerrigan took over the program in 2020, hoping to restore it to what it once was. When she began, there were only five students in her class.

“It was really hard, but we managed to win awards, which is a miracle,” she said. 

After last year, Kerrigan asked Paige Harrison (12) and Claire Kisielnicki (12) to join as editors.

“You learn how to write anything well,” Harrison said about what she’s learned. “You learn the basics of all writing, but you do it over and over again.  Writing has gotten me through a lot; it’s my outlet. It’s what I do when I need to do something to feel better. Journalism has been really helpful with that. It has a lot of benefits, both mentally and physically. The collaboration is a really big [benefit].”

There are many deeper reasons for joining journalism as well.

“I realized that journalistic writing is something I could enjoy as I’m very passionate about having a voice,” said Kisielnicki. “I love being able to write meaningful articles that involve my community. Whether it’s sports, politics, news, etc, it’s really cool to be a part of the voices that advocate for our community.”

Harrison found that the sense of community was important to her too.

“The collaboration to make really good articles is very prominent in this class,” Harrison said. “It’s the community that we have. This community where we can all be best friends, but we can also still get work done. We can have a good time while still doing things that are impacting other people.” 

With the changes in leadership and increase in staff members, the future of The Prospector looks bright.

“I’m really hoping to get back to a strong award winning program,” Kerrigan said. “I want it to become a program where kids are fighting to get in by application like it’s the cool thing to do. People know about it in the school, that it’s something that people strive to become a part of, that we’re winning all Colorado awards, that our students are seeing success in their articles, that students are going into journalism after [high] school, going to college for journalism, and becoming journalists. That’s what I really hope that will become.”

Students looking to join journalism should know it’s a lot of work, but more than worth it.

“I say go fully into it,” said Harrison. “In classes like these, you have to throw yourself into it. It forms you into a good person and it forms you into a better writer.”

Harrison and Kisielnicki are glad they chose to join The Prospector in their final year of high school.

“Journalism is such an incredible way to share your voice on topics you are passionate about, so use that voice, because it can be very powerful and make an impact,” Kisielnicki said.