Cat Talk History

The school newspaper is one of Millbrook’s oldest traditions. For decades, Millbrook High School students have reported on school events and world happenings, in many of the same ways as they do today. Countless homecomings, school plays, and global events are immortalized within the pages of our newspapers. Editors, layout styles, and names have varied throughout the years, but that much has remained constant. Although currently dubbed The Cat Talk, our newspaper has only had this title since the 1970’s. In the 1940’s The Cat Talk was called The Hi-Notes. In the 50’s, it was referred to as The Laurelette, most likely an allusion to the Laurel, the name of our yearbook. The last name the newspaper had before The Cat Talk was The Blue Notes in the 1960’s. The Cat Talk embraced the change in journalism, recognizing print journalism as a declining art form in the fall of 2015 when this digital website was added. Print editions also continued, but when Covid-19 shut down the world in March of 2020, it shut down the print version of the Cat Talk as well. To date, there has not been a print edition since December of 2019.

Mrs. Mary Beth Putnam served as adviser to the newspaper staff from 1999-2021. An English teacher with no formal journalistic experience, Mrs. Putnam stepped up to provide invaluable teaching and support to the newspaper staff for the twenty-two years that she has served as adviser.  It was under her leadership that The Cat Talk developed some of its most beloved and recognized traits. These include various regular features, articles that are present in every issue such as Student Spotlight or Cats on the Prowl. One significant contribution The Cat Talk has made to the school was the introduction of Wiley the Wildcat in 2002. Wiley originated from a cartoon in the paper and since has been adopted as the school’s mascot. Mrs. Putnam retired in June of 2020, and Ms. Jamie Delp took over as the newspaper adviser.

For the latest news,  follow our twitter, @MHSNewspaper_  and Instagram, mhscattalk. Feel free to contact us with any suggestions you might have. The Cat Talk staff is looking forward to embarking on this new chapter with the support of the Millbrook Community.