The first student-run newspaper of MCHS dates back nearly 100 years to the beginning of the Great Depression. It was established in 1929 under the title of The Club Gazette. Since then, the newspaper has appeared under a variety of other titles including The Tom Tom and Mohawk Press existing as both a club and an elective class. The newspapers won a myriad of awards with several students receiving individual honors as well.
According to a 1993 publication, the first 20 years of the existence of The Club Gazette reflected the societal standards of the time. It said the males in the class did all of the reporting and writing, while females completed all of the typing.

This male-dominated tradition ended as the Civil Rights Era gained popularity. By 1957, the editorial staff of the Newspaper was solely made up of eight girls, shattering the cultural idea that women could do more in a newsroom than just type.
Methods to produce newspapers have changed as well. When initially started, the press was typed manually. It was a stand-alone newspaper. More recently, it was published in the community-wide Globe Gazette and transitioned to a digital newspaper.
Neal Justin, a 1986 MCHS graduate and former student journalist, described the newspaper as “The most effective way to know what was going on.”
Justin, now a writer for Minnesota’s Star Tribune, said that he joined the newspaper staff as a junior to try something new and “fell in love immediately.”
Cuts in staff and elective classes, along with a lack of student interest, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic led to the Mohawk Press being discontinued in 2019.
Students in the journalism program are excited to reinstate this school tradition.
“It’s a really good opportunity to keep people informed about what’s going on and it’s a good way to step out of my comfort zone,” said Autumn Overland, staff writer. “I really want to help students stay informed about what’s happening at MCHS.”
With eight new writers at the Riverhawk Press, Overland and her colleagues hope that reinstating a student-run newspaper will provide budding journalists like Justin with a chance to explore a passion as well as provide the greater student body with more access to local journalism.