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P12.V53.I01
Page 12A /13A
Like none before it
By JOE MALLEY
he 2012 edition of Athenian, the 88th
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yearbook of DeLand (Fla.) HS, broke new
ground in its coverage of controversial subjects
including homosexuality, drug use, underage drinking, body art and extreme tanning.
The subjects are nothing new to teenagers,
of course, but the 12 pages of the 340-page
yearbook raised the ire of teens and adults in
the small college community located between
Orlando and Daytona Beach on the Interstate
4 corridor.
As the Athenian adviser, I was excited when
my co-editors-in-chief approached me last fall
with several provocative ideas for spreads
because they and I knew that such topics have
been recently covered in various Central Florida yearbooks such as William R. Boone HS in
Orlando. It was a matter of convincing Mitch
Moyer, the principal of DeLand High.
The editors met with Moyer and discussed
the story ideas and how they would be covered.
He agreed to permit coverage as long as the
stories did not condone or condemn the practices depicted, were written in professional
journalism style and carried parent permission. We settled on the topics mentioned above.
We abandoned a story idea about the schoolís
teen mom program due to legal issues.
We were thrilled with Moyer’s acceptance of
the story ideas, but we were well aware of the
responsibility we carried. We knew we had to
get it right. Conscientious advisers know the
process. Staffers researched the subjects and
gathered published data. They interviewed
students who were openly gay, admitted smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol, getting tattoos and using tan