The newspaper team went from taking four months to produce the first issue and selling 250 copies of the initial issue to producing subsequent issues every two months and selling at least 2 000 copies of each issue, which costs R1 per copy.
Speaking on behalf of the team, school’s principal Mogobe Maebela said the team has shown great dedication to their writing. “We are proud of our newspaper team, we hope they will pursue creative writing as careers from here on,” said Maebela.
Beyond the Lemonade Stand, a company that helps grow young people’s creative ideas, partnered with the school on the initiative which is under a pilot programme for a personal development and entrepreneurial leadership called Did I Just Do That. Entrepreneur and founder of the company, Thokoza Mjo explained, “We partner with schools and teach pupils to produce, publish and sell copies of their own school newspaper. The objectives for the newspaper are to improve literacy in schools, promote teenage entrepreneurial activity, develop digital literacy skills and teach financial management.”
Mjo urged the community to contribute to the paper by buying advertising space and partners such as Canon, who provide cameras, and Caxton, who offered to print every second month, have also come on board.
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