ACHS students launch the Wolfie Gazette
When Brielle Sacatani was a sophomore at American Canyon High School, her counselor, Tricia Hernandez, told her: “You should start a school newspaper.”
“I was kind of hesitant,” Sacatani remembers. This was in 2024. “Nobody really reads the newspaper anymore — and there’s financial stuff,” she added, referring to high print production costs.
Fast forward to 2025: The newspaper club is meeting every Thursday at noon, and the first issue of the Wolfie Gazette is about to be hot off the press. It’s the high school’s second go at a student-run newspaper, and it’s here to serve, brimming with much-needed arts coverage, campus interviews, plus an investigative piece in each issue.
“I found ways to do it digitally, ways to get people involved,” said Sacatani, now in her junior year. The Wolfie Gazette is run through ACHS’s Journalism and Communications Club, which started up this semester and counts a dozen-odd members. Sacatani serves as club president and the Wolfie’s editor in chief.
“Our team has writers, an interviewer, a marketing team, photographers and graphic design,” said Sacatani. Right now, the core team includes CJ Cenal as secretary, Clarizze Pagud as a writer and vice president and Lana Keimach as treasurer and a graphic designer.
Word about the Wolfie Gazette is spreading fast, and students are looking forward to it. “I’m so mad that’s starting when I’m a senior,” said Karlos Garduce, an ACHS student. “I think it’s revolutionary that we have a newspaper that’s student-led. We definitely need one.”
The Wolfie will start out as a newsletter sent directly to ACHS inboxes, and it’s already up to 50 subscribers and counting. Eventually, club members are hoping to have a domain and a print paper to boot.
Karen Nelson, the club’s faculty advisor and ACHS U.S. history teacher, spoke to the need for more school coverage.
“Right now, most communication on campus happens in separate pockets,” she said. “Each club or team runs its own social media. There is not really a central place where students can see what’s happening across the school.
“ACHS hasn’t had a student-run newspaper for a few years,” said Nelson. “There is potential for the club to fill this gap.”
Dr. Marisa Garcia Rodriguez, a professor of communications at Napa Valley College, agreed. A longtime fan of high school newspapers, the professor also said it’s crucial for critical thinking skills and learning about the city.
“Journalism also teaches media literacy,” she wrote in an email. “Speaking to individuals involved directly, attending city council meetings, and reading the original documents for a story rather than relying on someone else to summarize what happened — this is invaluable experience.”
The team behind the Wolfie Gazette wants to fill more than a few gaps. For Sacatani, American Canyon’s high school’s media coverage has been lacking — specifically coverage that centers the wellbeing of students following several years of disturbing abuse and harassment cases. She is already lining up interviews with teachers and students for a piece on the subject.
Sacatani has been petitioning Napa Valley Unified School District for approval of the Journalism and Communications Club since 2024, when she was a sophomore. Though faculty and administration have so far been supportive, there are still concerns around censorship. According to Sacatani, the club’s Instagram account faces more scrutiny than other clubs’ social media accounts.
Representatives from the Napa Valley Unified School District did not respond to requests for comment.
“There was a lot of documentation required by the district,” Sacatani said. Clubs are notoriously hard to rubber stamp at Napa schools. “Even now, there are a lot of clubs waiting to start.”
The Wolfie Gazette has taken a couple years to get off the ground, but it’s clear they will hit the ground running. The first issue is expected to drop this month.
“People are looking for social things, sports, events,” Sacatani said. “Usually, our school focuses on the major sports — basketball, volleyball, football. A lot of the arts and other activities want to get that recognition. That’s what they expect from the newspaper, and that’s what they’re getting.”
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