The student paper's findings forced their new principal to resign less than a month after being hired

Not everyone joins the student newspaper just because it'll look good on their college applications. Some are genuinely interested in journalism and its power to make things right, and a few kids in Kansas are learning just how powerful they can be.The students at Pittsburg High School in Kansas recently learned they were getting a new principal, Amy Robertson. She was hired on March 6. The staff at the student newspaper, the Booster Redux, set out to research their new leader and began with her resume—something that it seems like Pittsburg's administrations didn't do.They googled the school where Roberston claimed to get her master's and doctorate degrees, Corllins University, and learned that it didn't exist; it's an unaccredited "diploma mill" where you can buy fake degrees and certificates. The newspaper ran their findings last Friday, and Roberston resigned on Tuesday."Everybody kept telling them, 'stop poking your nose where it doesn't belong,'" says Emily Smith, who advises the student newspaper. "They were at a loss that something that was so easy for them to see was waiting to be noticed by adults."Watch out, team Spotlight. This team of teenage muckrakers are coming for your jobs.

Not everyone joins the student newspaper just because it'll look good on their college applications. Some are genuinely interested in journalism and its power to make things right, and a few kids in Kansas are learning just how powerful they can be.

The students at Pittsburg High School in Kansas recently learned they were getting a new principal, Amy Robertson. She was hired on March 6. The staff at the student newspaper, the Booster Redux, set out to research their new leader and began with her resume—something that it seems like Pittsburg's administrations didn't do.


They googled the school where Roberston claimed to get her master's and doctorate degrees, Corllins University, and learned that it didn't exist; it's an unaccredited "diploma mill" where you can buy fake degrees and certificates. The newspaper ran their findings last Friday, and Roberston resigned on Tuesday.

"Everybody kept telling them, 'stop poking your nose where it doesn't belong,'" says Emily Smith, who advises the student newspaper. "They were at a loss that something that was so easy for them to see was waiting to be noticed by adults."

Watch out, team Spotlight. This team of teenage muckrakers are coming for your jobs.