There is another Viking Vibe.
No, I am not making this up so I can create some half-baked sequel to The Doppelgänger School. There is a real school newspaper with an identical name to ours, and it would take a 7-8 hour northward drive (from here) to get to the “headquarters” where it is produced: Oxford Hills Middle School in South Paris, Maine.
Yes, you read that right. This paper is in Oxford Hills Middle School. It was founded in October 2024 after a teacher, Mr. Jonathan Bolduc, was requested to start a journalism class. At first, the paper was only available online, but eventually a print version arose. There have been six editions thus far.
I was curious how journalism worked in a middle school compared to a high school, so I reached out to Mr. Bolduc to find out. He said, “Eighth graders at Oxford Hills have to take Journalism as a required course; I like to say that Journalism is a writing skills class with a focus. Middle School is an interesting age! It’s really nice to help kids build sentence structure, content, and teach them how to craft the news.”
After a bit more digging into the sixth edition of the OHMS Viking Vibe, I discovered in this article that journalism is a half-year course for eighth grade. Take notes, Crossroads. The other half of the year is taken up by health. From what I recall, journalism was a single unit in eighth-grade writing class, but it was never in-depth, let alone having a school paper of our own.
The scheduling article was far from the only notable one. I found a great deal of variety in what the OHMS students wrote. One article delved into the different parts of their music program. Another gained varying insight from students and teachers about whether or not OHMS students should pick their own electives. One discussed and promoted their Dungeons & Dragons club, one exposed the…concerning state of their water fountains, and one ranted about paper darts, which are still a problem after decades of existence. A group of students discussed the possibility of middle school recess—seriously, why did recess go away? Who was the genius who decided that? Mr. Bolduc shared an anecdote about one particularly impactful article in a previous edition. A student noticed a leaky hole in the ceiling and decided to write about it. The school noticed the article and fixed the issue!
Well, this is nice and all, but perhaps I am missing a greater conspiracy. What if OHMS discovered us and copied us? Are we facing an act of plagiarism? Should this article be taking a different approach—no. I will stop right there. The other school had no idea this Viking Vibe existed, and honestly, it was pure luck that I even discovered it. The name “Viking Vibe” simply came up in an OHMS class discussion when the paper was founded, and it was voted to be the best one. And besides, the Vikings are not the most original mascot in existence, and there are only so many substitutes for the word “vibe”. There is room for the two of us. The fact that there are even two of us in the first place goes to show the great spread of journalism in American schools.
When asked why it is so important to have a school newspaper, no matter where you are, Mr. Bolduc wrote the following:
“School newspapers introduce students to the importance of journalism, which I believe is the cornerstone of democracy. It encourages students to think critically, verify information, fact-check, and gives them an outlet to tell stories they care about.”
And for anyone interested in or involved with this Viking Vibe (Google Classroom Code: njyounkh), he has something to say to you as well:
“Write! Write about what you care about, find what you are passionate about, and become an expert in it. A huge part of journalism is curiosity and asking ‘why.’”
