Goodbye, CATS Bulletin. Hello, CATS Central!

By Julian E.

Journalism students voted to change the name of the school newspaper from CATS Bulletin to CATS Central, and for our new name we have also decided to update our logo for a more modern look.

It started in Journalism class, when Ms. Martinez, English and Journalism teacher, surveyed students about the name of the newspaper and most said that they wanted to change it. “So, basically I had spoken with Mr. Monteon last year about including more student work in the CATS Bulletin, and it had occurred to me that if we were to do such changes to our name, then we’d have to change our logo.”

Together, the two teachers came up with the idea of having Mr. Monteon’s graphic design class create the new logo and then have a competition in which journalism students would vote for the one they liked most.

This was no easy feat to accomplish. It meant that Ms. Martinez and Mr. Monteon had to coordinate between each other and their students, from pitching the idea to presenting the final designs.

According to Ms. Martinez, students voted in three rounds, from 19 designs to the top 5 to then, finally, the top 2. The first-place winner was 12th grader, Denise R., who said while presenting her design to journalism students that she was inspired by the show “Friends.”

“I didn’t feel as if I was going to win it as there were a lot of good ones in the competition, so I’m surprised I won,” she said.

When asked about whether the school newspaper needed to be updated, she said “Oh definitely, seeing how we’re a more modern school who relies on technology more, I think change was really inevitable seeing how it seemed a bit more outdated.”

The runner-up was 12th grader Abigail.

Mr. Monteon shared his perspective on the name change saying, “change was needed for our CATS Bulletin as we see how brands change their labels and design concept.”

He added that, “I do feel as if CATS Central does resonate with us, and the students who are here, seeing as how we’re more based on South Central Los Angeles, we can see how this name does resonate with our students, staff, peers, and even outside of school we are, mainly centered around South Central Los Angeles, so I do feel as if it resonates with us.”