To mark the 150th anniversary of Palatine High School, Cutlass is returning to print with a 12-page commemorative edition highlighting the school’s past and present.
About 2,000 copies of the issue will be printed, also celebrating the 100th anniversary of Cutlass, first published in Sept. of 1925.
Distribution will begin at the senior breakfast on May 8 before expanding across the school. Copies will be available in English classrooms, the media center and other locations throughout the building. Staff also plans to distribute issues across the broader Palatine community.
Editor-in-Chief Karim Melek said the initial rollout will begin with seniors and staff before reaching the rest of the school.
“We are sending it out for print this Friday,” Melek said. “We’re going to start distributing them during senior breakfast, and then we’ll make them available to the rest of Palatine High School.”
Melek said distribution plans are still being finalized, but the goal is to make copies widely accessible.
“We might have stations around the school where students can just pick up a copy,” Melek said. “We’re also planning to distribute them to people in school administration and community members, like the mayor’s office, especially since a lot of the issue focuses on Palatine’s history as a town.”
The issue draws on archival reporting, historical records and new interviews to connect Palatine’s past with its present and future.
Stories include Palatine’s involvement in World War II, a feature on the discovery of Pluto and early space exploration, and coverage of the Y2K scare. The edition also blends past Cutlass reporting with new journalism to show how the school and community have evolved over time.
After transitioning to a fully digital format in 2014, Cutlass has maintained a strong online readership. Melek said the return to print has been a unique experience for staff members who have only worked in digital journalism.
“This is exciting because we haven’t gone to print since 2014,” he said. “For most of our editors and writers, this is their first time working in print, so it’s been a really interesting process.”
The commemorative edition is planned as a one-time release tied to the anniversary celebrations, with no current plans for future print issues.
