Destruction, isolation and perseverance. That’s what the student journalists at Palisades Charter High School’s (PCHS) Tideline have been fighting through since early January when wildfires destroyed part of their campus and much of their neighborhoods.
“I was very shocked and had a hard time believing it (when the fire started) since there are a lot of beautiful places in the city,” Tideline photographer Eve Keller said. “It was also very surreal seeing everything that went down.”
Starting on January 7, the Los Angeles area suffered an unusual breakout of wildfires caused by the Santa Ana winds. According to USA Today, the Palisades fire was the most destructive of all, burning through 23,000 acres. Keller’s school, Palisades Charter High School, was heavily impacted by the destruction. The Pacific Palisades area lost entire neighborhoods and many businesses due to the fires, leading to a sense of loss within the community.
“The community has been distraught which also caused a lot of heartache,” Keller said. “Even though this happened, the community was still able to come together.”
When the fire reached Palisades Charter High School, it destroyed about 40% of its facilities, according to Deadline. The school’s journalism program lost its whole classroom and supplies in the fire. A GoFundMe has been set up for the classroom.
“We lost the classroom and the sentimental value it had to offer. It was the heart of our program and losing it is sad,” said Sophia Winston, a features staff writer for Tideline. “The idea that that building will never be the same is hard for us to deal with.”
Due to the fire’s destruction, the school was forced online. All classes are currently conducted via Zoom and class times are only one hour, cutting the normal time in half. Students like Keller are unhappy with the change but are hopeful for a return to in-person classes where their first day back will be on April 21. They will be located in Santa Monica near Third Street Promenade. The new facilities will offer a space to ensure students a smooth and steady transition.
“It was hard for us to go back on Zoom since it had been a lot of time since COVID-19,” Keller said. “But it was helpful to see a silver lining for an alternative school that we may go back to later on in May. It is also a little challenging because I’m not as connected with my peers as how I was doing in person.”
Winston feels the pressure of missing out on so much class time and not having a campus to go to. The thought of transferring schools hangs in the mind of many others with lots of athletes from PCHS making the switch early.
“Everything I’m doing right now is so important, Winston said. “I was worried going back online would jeopardize my school work. It was a big question if I was going to stay at Pali or move to another school. I put so much of my life into school, playing volleyball and being on the newspaper. I would be missing out so much. It was really important for me to help and rebuild the community.”
Despite the devastation, loss and obstacles, Tideline continues publishing. Most of the website’s recent articles feature stories of the first-hand effects of the fire and its aftermath. On the website, they created a specific section for their fire coverage to spotlight individual students. It is called People of Pali and it showcases those affected by the fires, minimal or major.
“We plan on releasing as many stories as possible and sharing as many experiences as possible,” Winston said. “We hope to be able to move past it at some point though and bring awareness to things other than just the fires. We don’t want this fire to define our publication.”
Lisa Nehus Saxon, English teacher and adviser for the Tideline, supports her students in any way she knows how. As a former journalist, she relies on her experience as one of the first women sports writers and covering tragedies.
“I covered 9/11. I covered the Northridge earthquake and I’ve covered riots. I mean, I’ve covered a lot of things. This is my first fire,” Nehus Saxon said. “But I would tell my students to just use the same skills they always use. I’m just looking for the human story.”
Before teaching at PCHS, Nehus Saxon was a newspaper beat writer for The Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels. She then switched careers to become a teacher where she taught at Birmingham High School’s Daniel Pearl Magnet from 2002 to 2006 until she found her home at PCHS right after.
Due to her past occupation, Nehus Saxon has received donations from many people whom she had previously connected with through her work as a journalist. The Dodgers have reached out to show their support and have offered to help rebuild her classroom. Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts even visited the PCHS baseball team to give them words of encouragement.
“I‘ve been floored by people’s generosity, especially when the Dodgers contacted me,” Nehus Saxon said. “I didn’t contact them. They contacted me, and my first response was, how do they even remember me? You know, but they do.”
After the disastrous fire burned nearly half of the school’s campus, students and staff are relocating to a new in-person space located in Santa Monica near Third Street Promenade. Their official first day back will be on April 21. The new facilities will offer a space to ensure students a smooth and steady transition.
Even though the loss of supplies and classes was difficult for them, the journalism staff is taking this as an opportunity to rebuild their community and journalism department to best suit their future.
“I’m hopeful that when we’re all back in one place. It will be easier,” Nehus Saxon said. “But people process grief differently and I think that’s really important to note.”
While the fire may have burned down all of their materials, it increased the staff’s determination to produce and publish more stories, such as different aid projects near the area. Without the proper funds and tools to publish a magazine, Temple University, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is helping Tideline by printing its magazine publication.
“We are entering into another initiative with Temple University,” Nehus Saxon said. “They have graciously agreed to print our publication and it is to be distributed once we get to our in-person site in Santa Monica.”
