Background
Founded in 1994 by Sari Aizley, Dr. Paul Aizley and David Phillips, Class! Publications is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that produces Class!, a free, monthly, bilingual publication by, for and about the high school students of Clark County, Nevada. Nine issues of the newspaper monthly, September through May. Articles are written by students and deal with issues of importance to high school teens such as scholarships, college selection and career possibilities but also news, sports and trends as well as arts & entertainment. Feature stories and articles are selected by students themselves and may cover areas such as personal or parental relationships, peer pressure or school and off-campus life. Editorials and information on careers, colleges and scholarships are also included. The high-value content of Class! regularly finds its way into teacher curricula and classroom discussions. ¡Diganos!, a special four-page, Spanish-language Class! insert, serves a growing Latino student readership while providing an effective resource for students learning Spanish.

Class! is distributed to over 100 locations including nearly all public and private high schools within the greater Las Vegas area as well as branch libraries, recreation centers and other youth-serving outlets. The publication has a circulation of 40,000.

Accreditation and funding
The organization is accredited by the United Way of Southern Nevada and endorsed by the Cark County School District. Its operational budget is derived from adult generated funding, private donations, in-kind support and grants.

Mission
Class! seeks to promote communication and understanding among Clark County’s diverse teen population as well as to encourage positive life choices through education, career exploration and involvement.

Funding
Class! Publications is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that is accredited by the United Way of Southern Nevada. Our operational budget is derived from adult generated funding, private donations, in-kind support and corporate/government grants.

Internships
Each semester, sophomore through senior class students across the greater Las Vegas metropolitan area apply for a limited number of Class! internships. Under the direction of a staff journalist, interns have an opportunity to enhance their writing, editing and researching skills as well as and learn other facets of a typical newspaper operation. Two recent graduates were invited to New York to serve internships with Linda Ellerbee, author and TV moderator and producer.

Workshops
Class! develops, implements and sponsors seminars as well as workshops for high school students throughout the year. Topics include communications technology, editorial cartooning, writing for broadcast news, photojournalism and First Amendment law.

College scholarships
During the spring semester, Class! presents college scholarships to outstanding student writers, photographers and artists. Many of the scholarships are donated by organizations such as resort operator MGM Mirage and the Las Vegas Sun, a daily newspaper based in Southern Nevada.

Promotion of literacy
Because Class! is written by teens, for teens and the issues important to this group, it has great credibility among this target audience and is widely read and discussed as a result. Class! encourages critical thinking and participation in dialogue with peers.