Our History

The history of journalism and student publications dates back to 1896, when NCHS was Normal Public High School, with the publication of the first issue of The Public School Current (shortened to The Current the following year). The Current covered school activities like the monthly tardy report and the introduction of new laboratory equipment to the science courses.

In 1933, after disappearing for several years, the newspaper reappeared under the title of the NCHS Echo, the first official publication of NCHS. The Echo, a product of Student Council’s decision that students needed a way to be informed with what was happening around the school, would be renamed NCHS News.

NCHS News was a pioneer in high school journalism. In 1937, it was the first and only paper in the U.S. to use a printing process called dermaprinting to reproduce photographs in a mimeographed paper. (The mimeograph is an antiquated copy machine, it functioned by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper.)

In 1947, the Inkspot was born – predating Unit 5 itself (which was founded in the fall of 1948). NCHS News was rebranded when the Normalite began to print the school’s paper. The Inkspot began to print in a larger tabloid format and to use colored and newsprint paper.

Over the years, the Inkspot was published on a fluctuating schedule – as a shorter biweekly paper in the ’60s and ’70s, as a monthly paper in the ’90s and ’00s.

In 2012, the Inkspot ceased publication as a print newspaper and began publishing as a digital newspaper.

Professional Affiliations

The Normal Community High School publication, the Inkspot, is a member of the following organizations. The Inkspot and its staff abides by the standards set by these professional communities, competes in contests they sponsor, and attempts to participate in the ongoing conversation on the role of journalism and journalism education in the secondary school.

For more information on the organizations, please view the links below.