Midlo English teacher Mrs. Jackie Tully began Midlo Scoop, CCPS’s first online newspaper, in September of 2012. In the seven years since, the online site has published, 3, 460 (and counting) stories, keeping the Midlo community “in the loop”. Since the first version of the newspaper, the Midlo Scoop has experienced a plethora changes,  completely transforming the way faculty, students, and the community learn information about Midlothian High School.

Midlo Scoop was the brainchild of Mrs. Tully and former Midlo Assistant Principal, Dr. Patrick Held, who wanted to combine the creative writing and journalism classes into one class. According to Mrs. Tully, the dynamic was “hectic, but exciting,” and the large group met in the library. The original Midlo Scoop, which published content via Google Sites once per month, was called The Scoop: Life and Times at Midlo High, and its staffers called themselves “Scoopers”. At that time, posting information online was new for schools, and the publication was not allowed to post last names of students for privacy reasons. Fast forward seven years, and the Midlo Scoop uses WordPress and posts content daily, reaching readers from around the world.

Midlo Scoop adviser and creator, Mrs. Tully, states with a smile, “I’m proud of how far we’ve come in such a short period of time. I’m also proud of how much we can cover with our small staff of 19. It’s really important to us that we  put forth a positive, yet accurate, depiction of Midlothian High School.” She adds, “I hear from parents quite a bit, who love the site. It’s a convenient way for them to keep up with what’s going on in their teenagers’ lives. It’s fun to see Midlo Scoop stories shared on social media by proud parents and students.”

With a new format last year, the Scoop began posting sports scores, polls, and videos. Current staffer Zoe Kopidis, photographer and sports score guru, recently surpassed 500 scores on the site. The Midlo Scoop staffers adore writing for the newspaper, as demonstrated by senior Brent Novey, who comments, “I love it because the writing is so different than what I do in English class, and I love working with my peers. I have more insight into what’s happening around the school.”  As an added evolution of the product, Mrs. Tully hopes to add more video to the site next school year and is looking for ways to reach even more members of the community to spread Midlo’s good news.