When the Redwood Bark was first created, no one could have guessed how far it would come half a century later.
In the first year of the Bark, 1958, there were only nine students on staff with little journalistic experience. A short eight-page issue was published monthly with articles on important school activities and events.
By 1964, the Bark had already won four All-American awards from the National Scholastic Press Association for its achievements in high school journalism, and the editor-in-chief in 1964, Gary Artoux, was recognized by Columbia University for his article about conflict in the student council at Redwood.
Redwood graduate Steve Fainaru’s recent Pulitzer Prize win marks the third Pulitzer Bark alumni have won in the last 50 years.
The Bark also had the opportunity to interview former President Lyndon B. Johnson and presidential candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964.
According to Sylvia Jones, the on and off Bark adviser from 1964-2000, Charles Schulz, famous cartoonist and creator of Charlie Brown comic strips, was another famous figure who befriended the Bark. In 1968, he drew a cartoon specifically for Redwood that was published in the Bark.
The Bark has always been known as a liberal student newspaper, according to Jones. However, during some periods in its history it reflected more conservative views of the student body or staff. The Bark published statements in support of Richard Nixon during his unsuccessful election in 1960, and again during his reelection campaign in 1972, with 48.2% of students in support of Nixon, according to ‘72 Bark poll.
The Bark writers have often had a sense of humor, which has sometimes gotten them into trouble, according to Donal Brown, one of two alternating Bark advisers from 1974-1999.
“When we endorsed Jimmy Carter for president in 1980 there was a kid who substituted an “F” for the “C” in the Bark so it was Jimmy Farter. He thought it was very funny. Sylvia Jones dealt with him,” he said.
As the “students’ voice,” the Bark has always reflected the student body’s feelings and covered controversy extensively. When the administration cracks down on students, reinforces rules on enforces new ones, it is almost guaranteed to see some sort of story on the front page of the Bark and often an editorial opposing it.
The Bark often butted heads with Redwood administration. Since 1958, there have been countless pictures and articles that have invoked disapproval from the administration.
In 1974 the Bark published an issue devoted entirely to sex, with polls reporting students sexual activities, unprecedented before that time. And again in 2003, the Bark published an issue comparing the sexual activity of students in modern day to that of students in 1977.
The story that likely generated the most controversy story in the history of the Bark was the students’ alcohol sting.
“My [Non-fiction students] wrote a story about liquor stores in ’78-79,” Jones said. “They went out and bought a great deal of liquor, some of it at 10 o’clock in the morning by people wearing braces on their teeth.”
Though the students’ parents had signed permission forms allowing their children to conduct the sting, Jones landed in trouble for having students buy alcohol, a common practice in journalism at the time. “The administration wanted to remove me, so I sued,” said Jones. “But it never went to trial. That means the judge wanted us to settle it on our own.”
Despite occasional conflicts with the administration, the Bark has always been a key featured program at Redwood, especially during the ‘70s when there were no AP classes.
During the last two decades, the paper’s format has changed dramatically thanks to new technology.
“We bought the first Macintosh in 1987,” Jones said. “We took it out of the box, connected it, typed something, all looked at each other and said, ‘how do you print it?’ And so technology has just been a very rapid, wonderful thing since then. When I left in 2000 we were still pasting up on a big giant glass table. Mr. Sivertsen [current Bark adviser] has incredible computer skills, and he’s made some real advances on the Bark.”
However, despite the passing of the years, the general sentiment of students towards the Bark has remained consistent.
“What I really value most about the Bark is that we all took our work and ourselves very seriously,” said former Bark staff member and ’86 Redwood graduate Amy Renkin-Williams. “I think that’s how the Bark was, we really worked hard and wanted to produce something great.”
