Celebrating 5 Years of Cardinal Nation – 456 Stories Later

Cardinal Nation Commemorates 5 Years of Our Online Platform

Juliana Nichols, Nathan Colagross, Nicholas Payne, and Ayesha Faruki

April 1, 2026

Mentor High School is chronicled by the staff of Cardinal Nation online newspaper

Steve Couch

The logo for Cardinal Nation, “the online student newspaper for Mentor High School” (Created by advisor Steve Couch)

**Happy Birthday Cardinal Nation!**

Over 5 years, Cardinal Nation has published a total of 523 articles – and counting – created by about 70 student journalists. Before Cardinal Nation, Mentor High School’s newspaper had different editions – at times it was a paper newspaper called The Mentor Log in the 1960s and 1970s and then a website called The Inkwell for about 25 years starting in the early 1990s.

In the fall of 2020, Cardinal Nation was officially transformed into a purely online edition where numerous sections have been created and evolved, some of which include sports, news, Cardinal Creations, and visual arts sections where writers and editors alike collaborate on articles ranging from Mentor alum politicians to extracurricular activity successes.

Cardinal Nation – the latest edition of the Mentor High School newspaper – went live on April 1, 2021. Beginning in the fall of 2025, a new journalism class also publishes their work here.

Our mission statement, as originally conceived back in 2020:

Cardinal Nation Mission Statement

Role

“To be the premiere chronicler and voice of Mentor High School students and their ideas, activities, and accomplishments.”

Objective

“To inform, educate, and advocate for the Mentor High School student body by providing an open forum for appropriate student expression.”

We hope to bring attention to the incredible work our writers have done over the past five years in service of that mission by listing and linking every story published on the site. Our editors have also shared some of their personal favorites for you to discover.

From the editors – thank you to our readers for reading and supporting our work and allowing us the platform, resources, and community that makes our jobs possible!

Editors Favorite & Best Stories

Nathan Colagross, Editor-in-Chief

Best – From Kyiv to Tel Aviv: What The Headlines Don’t Show by Viktoriia Pavshock

This is my favorite article because of the experience that Viktoriia went through and was able to brilliantly articulate in her article during time in Ukraine. Her rich history in the region and experience living there and traveling multiple times to the nation in wartime continued to surprise me across all of the articles she wrote on the topic, but this one stood out. Undergoing bombings and the real experience of people in wartime Ukraine was something that I could never fathom, and the beautiful writing that Viktoriia used was able to describe the events perfectly. I was left awestruck, and it was truly amazing what a Mentor student was able to experience and write about, which is why it became my favorite article.

Advisor’s Note: Viktoriia’s reporting on Ukraine earned her a “Best of SNO” designation by our website company for her first story War Through My Eyes and was featured nationally on their website.

Favorite – Remembering Jack Sawyer by Brian Mignogna

This story is a perfect representation of what Cardinal Nation is great at doing, and I enjoy reading it every single time. With such a bittersweet topic, writing a story like this is extremely difficult, but Brian pulled it off. I especially love the student interviews in the piece, which continue to warm my heart. It’s only fitting that this article be my favorite from over the years, and one that surely can’t be topped.

Juliana Nichols – Visual Editor

Favorite – Lake Erie is Frozen by Nick Payne

Lake Erie is Frozen written by Nick Payne is my favorite article for several reasons. Besides being the most viewed article in Cardinal Nation history, this article is creative, informative, and nothing like anything written before in Cardinal Nation. Nick’s writing style is generally very informative and to-the-point, whereas this piece highlights his versatility and the local beauty in Mentor that we don’t always realize or appreciate.

Best – Everything to Know About Donald Trump and Everything to Know About Kamala Harris by Bella Wargo and Nathan Colagross

Everything to Know About Donald Trump and Everything to Know About Kamala Harris written by Bella Wargo and Nathan Colagross, a collaboration between differing political viewpoints, where each writer had to consider the other perspective. In my opinion, these articles were the inspiring force behind our fight for student press freedom in the 2024-2025 school year, a feat that ended up being successful after months of advocating for our stories and our right to a voice. This story inspired our staff to speak to board members, write stories advocating for our paper, and engage with community to become stronger student journalists.

Advisor’s Note: Both of these stories were a part of a national effort to promote student journalism along with Student News Live, PBS, and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).This story was submitted to Student News Live for national publication as part of that effort, was published nationally on election day 2024. Cardinal Nation was proud to be a part of that effort.

Nick Payne, Mentor High School Editor

Best – The Perplexing Possible Paranormality of Mentor High School by Nicholas Prohaska

The exciting possibility that ghosts could be haunting our school is definitely a riveting thought. Could a ghost be walking beside you in the hallway? I felt like I was inside one of those ghost-hunting shows that you always see on TV, but this time I was more closely connected and everything felt more real. Haunting, yet informative through interesting historical definitions and context, this article is one of Cardinal Nation’s best.

Favorite – Students Taking A.I.R Test Horrified to Learn Questions are Written Entirely in Classical Latin by Andrew Freeman and Zach Payne

When I think about all the articles published from Cardinal Nation, this one is the first to come to mind. The article is witty, nonchalant, and highly akin to something published from The Onion. Every time I read the article, a new detail pops out, like the creative, sarcastic names, or small jokes toward local schools. The article has what I would consider as almost “inside jokes” only the Mentor community could understand. Although satirical, this article by Andrew Freeman and Zach Payne is nothing short of brilliant and an iconic example of what Cardinal Nation is.

Ayesha Faruki, News Editor

Favorite – No, I’m Not Brainwashed — I Have My Own Opinions by Juliana Nichols

Throughout its lifetime, Cardinal Nation has admittedly endured its fair share of road bumps. However, one common theme is consistent: the newspaper remains a safe space for free student expression. Juliana’s article fully embodies Cardinal Nation’s objective by exemplifying the importance of diversity of thought within the realm of student journalism. I respect the nuance Juliana’s perspective brings to discourse, and she is able to beautifully articulate the ability of young minds to form their own informed opinions. It’s essential to recognize that we, as student journalists, have opinions that matter.

Best – Somewhere There’s a Sister by Ellen Freeman

In this essay, Ellen reflects on the art of exchanging letters with her older brother, Andrew, while he’s at bootcamp at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Ellen’s narrative and timeline are written beautifully, and carry the weight of the complex subject. While I don’t even have siblings myself, Ellen’s writing had the capability of helping me understand her without experiencing it. She turns an ordinary form of communication into something steady and meaningful.

Shari Bolles, Journalism Class Teacher

Favorite – Seniors paint parking spots for the first time by Sylvia Hall and the Journalism Class Staff

This story will forever hold a special place in my heart because it is the first story published by the journalism class. Sylvia Hall did a wonderful job of gathering the information and writing a clear, thorough, and concise article. The other members of our small but diligent class interviewed seniors who participated in the event and wrote profiles of each one that captured their enthusiasm for this new tradition. After the story was published, we celebrated our first success with a donut day.

Best – A pint of purpose by Erin Melendez

Not only does this story highlight the life-saving blood drives held at the high school, but it also showcases our transition from writing hard news articles to crafting softer feature stories. Erin begins the article with a harrowing anecdote of how a blood transfusion saved her life. Then she weaves all of the factual information into a story that puts readers in the Paradigm with the generous donors resting comfortably on cots as skilled and compassionate nurses tend to their needs. Her story quells the fears of potential future donors.

**Steve Couch, Cardinal Nation Advisor**

Favorite – Turning ChatGPT Into Its Own Critic – Cardinal Nation Comes Clean On Our Last Article by Zach Payne

Hard to believe, but ChatGPT went live on November 30, 2022 – more or less birthing the Artificial Intelligence Era. Zach Payne wanted to do a story on it, but had to explain to me what it was since in January of 2023 it was still relatively new and I did not really know what it was. But when he explained it to me, I thought – why not have ChatGPT just write the article itself? To my shock, it totally did! That became our first story that we published on the topic. The next day in this story, Zach revealed what we had done – a gambit that became popular in the news media to do in coming weeks, but we did it first! I can tell you I had several staff members that reached out to me totally shocked at what artificial intelligence could do. The entire experience was very eye-opening.

Best – From Kyiv to Tel Aviv – Cardinal Nation Reports From Two Nations at War: Mentor Student Michelle Frumker Explores What The Headlines Don’t Show About Israel by Michelle Frumker

Our editors have picked some excellent stories to highlight – the truth is there are almost too many to list. But I really admire this story (part of a two-part series, the other half of which Nathan named) from Michelle Frumker. She has mostly participated in Cardinal Nation as a photographer and doesn’t frequently choose to use her voice – either in the newspaper or in my AP U.S. Government and Politics class – to weigh in on difficult topics. But this story was entirely her idea that she proposed to me on her own. First of all, to take the trip she took for the reasons she did is above and beyond what most students would attempt. But to then suggest she document it for the benefit of all – knowing her reluctance frequently to do so – and to do so in such an outstanding way makes this story exceptional. I can personally attest that she worked on it a long time, and gave a lot of thought to how to share her perspective and experiences from a war zone in a way that is sensitive to the many different viewpoints of our readers. In an online newspaper that has reported so very well on challenging topics from school board races to state and national issues to student concerns, this story – in my view – stands above them all.

Advisor’s Note: In addition to Viktoriia Pavshok’s story, freshman Ella Kosher earned “Best of SNO” distinction for her alumni profile of Congressman Matt Van Epps. These and many others are why I am so proud of the work Cardinal Nation has done over the first five years of its existence. Your student staff has advocated tirelessly for student voice, but we could use a lot more voices! ANY Mentor High School students can contribute to Cardinal Nation. If you have a story to tell, would like to help document the stories of Mentor High School, or just want to be a part of us – come join us!