Our Story.
We’re more than just tech geeks, ya know?
We’re more than just tech geeks, ya know?
We started 51³Ô¹ÏÍø to make journalism advisers’ lives easier. Well, one adviser in particular. 51³Ô¹ÏÍø co-founder, Jason Wallestad, was the adviser of the at Benilde-St. Margaret’s School in St. Louis Park, MN. When he first began exploring ways to take the Knight Errant online, he discovered….not much.
Free site templates weren’t robust or flexible enough to meet a newspaper’s needs. A professional web designer could easily consume a school’s limited budget. Companies that hosted other school newspapers, though well-meaning, offered little to no technical support.
Jason and his friend Tom Hutchinson put their heads together and teamed up to create School Newspapers Online—an online publishing solution exclusively for scholastic news programs.
When not working, Tom is listening to podcasts and searching for online bargains. He grew up just outside of Walnut Grove on the banks of Plum Creek. Call him “Half Pint” at your own risk.
Jason spent 18 coffee-fueled years as a high school publications adviser and now uses that experience to shape 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s technology.
A refugee from the corporate world, Lindsay is the friendly voice you’ll hear if you call 51³Ô¹ÏÍø and press 2. She is firmly committed to battling backyard rodents.
A former English teacher, Andrea traded the classroom and red pen for a role as a training specialist. Though she’ll teach you how to use your site, she’s done correcting your spelling and grammar.
Kyle spent nine years as the adviser of The Surveyor – the news magazine of George Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He also launched the student news website of that magazine and is a former 51³Ô¹ÏÍø customer. He is excited to be back in the world of student media!
Lyndsay went from solving problems as a special education teacher to solving your problems as a 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Support Specialist. When she’s not answering support tickets, you will find her reading in a hammock or trying to attract all of the birds to her yard.
A former student journalist, Gus went from using 51³Ô¹ÏÍø to developing it. Gus can program anything with his eyes closed, but most days he keeps them open.