With only enough money to publish through the first quarter of the school year, the editors of Berkeley High School's student newspaper realized they needed to generate income quickly. What they did not anticipate, however, was the large community response they received in support.

The Berkeley High Jacket, the high school's newspaper, received more than $6,300 in donations collected at performances of Yellowjackets, a play commissioned by the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

"We asked if they would mind if we raised money for them," said Susan Medak, the theater's managing director. "They were thrilled."

The theater collected the money simply by announcing the opportunity to donate before each show and placing a collection jar at the concession stand. On the last night of the play, Oct. 19, editors from The Jacket were presented with the money.

The play, written by Berkeley High alumnus Itamar Moses, is set at the high school and focuses on racial tensions during the mid-1990s. The Jacket's viability in the play is threatened after it publishes racially insensitive content.

"It's totally serendipitous," Medak said. "Just as we were going into rehearsal for the play we read an article about the financial travails of The Jacket."

The paper has also made its own efforts to raise money by increasing subscription prices and soliciting donations. So far staff members have raised roughly $20,000 on their own.

"I was completely shocked by the amount of support we got," said Managing Editor Hayley Beckett.

The biweekly paper began the year with only $4,500 in the bank as a result of escalating printing costs and decreasing subscription revenue, said Stephie Ratcliff, the business manager. Each issue costs between $800 and $1,000 to print

"The foundation that we go into the year with has been decreasing over the past few years," she said.

To raise money this year, the paper became more proactive in seeking advertising and benefitted from local media coverage. Ratcliff said that many subscribers even donated to the paper on top of the base subscription price.

The contribution from the theater, however, came as a surprise. As a non-profit, the theater relies heavily on donations to support its own programs and therefore generally does not do fundraisers for other organizations, Medak said. The role of the newspaper in the play led to this exception.

"We always look for ways to connect our work on stage to real lives of people in the community," she said.

Although the paper is financially secure for this year, Ratcliff said that fundraising will need to continue to develop an endowment to sustain the paper into the future.

"It looks like next year we'll have more of a cushion, but it will still be difficult," she said. "We're not done fundraising."

Tags: BERKELEY HIGH SCHOOL