The Student News Site of Stratford Academy

Stratford Gazebo

The Student News Site of Stratford Academy

Stratford Gazebo

The Student News Site of Stratford Academy

Stratford Gazebo

Gazebo To Shut Down Website

After a year of writing and publishing articles online every week, students and faculty involved with the Stratford Gazebo have decided to ditch the website and return to not printing the paper.

“It was just a lot of work,” two-year staff member Wehbe Lee said. “Last year was hard enough. We got two papers out and that was a challenge. This year was just too much work, so I’m happy with the decision to revert back to the old ways. I’m excited for the class next year!”

Students in the class said that the workload involved in publishing the Gazebo online was just too much for the small staff to handle, and that students are now only able to use the class as a study hall three days per week as opposed to the usual four.

Students proficient in all manner of online technology — Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook — also found that skills involved in putting the paper on the Web were simply over their heads.

Cutting and pasting text and photos, mastering basic typing skills, and remembering the password to the website overwhelmed seniors and freshmen alike.

“I just couldn’t seem to grasp the copy and paste concept. I can never seem to hit the ‘Control’ and ‘C’ keys at the same time,” junior Aiza Shabbir said. “I still have no idea what the ‘cut’ option is for. Where does the writing go when you ‘cut’ it?”

When journalism advisers Mr. Chris Loomis and Ms. Robin Schorr tried to teach the students how to save their stories on Google Drive, student journalists went on a month-long strike to protest the inhumane working conditions.

Shabbir quit the Gazebo in December after accidentally deleting a 10,000 word investigative report on resodding the football field. She is planning to join Yearbook next year.

Students and faculty alike were thrilled to hear of the Gazebo’s decision to go offline.

“I was ecstatic to hear that the Gazebo’s website is being shut down. I could never remember to check the paper when it was online. Even though there reminders in the morning announcements, on Twitter, and in class, it always just seemed to slip my mind,” junior Alex Koplin said. “Now I won’t feel vaguely guilty about not finding out the latest news from around the Loop.”

Upper school math teacher Ms. Theresa Ferrari — who said she could never remember whether the website’s address was stratfordgazebo.com or stratfordgazebo.org — said she approved the decision only after she was assured that the Gazebo has no intention of wasting a single page of paper on future editions.

Loomis and Schorr will use the 45-minute period freed up by not printing the paper to read the New York Times and weep quietly in the corner of Room 129.

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Gazebo To Shut Down Website