COEUR d'ALENE - Coeur d'Alene High School's student newspaper, the Viking Voice, has printed its final pages.

The May 29 issue marked the end of the print era for the Voice, which has provided student news to the school for almost two decades.

"It's pretty sad," Voice editor-in-chief and sophomore Robin Chamberlain, 16, of Coeur d'Alene, said on Wednesday. "I think we should have tried a lot harder to get people to join next year so it would have had to stay. And I wish that students had more respect for it, so more people would be upset."

Accompanying the Viking Voice in its departure is CHS newspaper adviser Teri Asher, who is retiring from CHS after 17 years. For 11 of those years, Asher taught student journalism and led the way for young reporters, editors and photographers to experience first-hand what it means to run a newspaper in her seventh-period publications class.

"From what I know, and they haven't spoken with me directly, they're not offering it as a class next year," Asher said. "So, that eliminates that possibility, I think. You can't do it as an extracurricular thing. It needs to have the class time."

The current staff of eight recently won first place from the American Scholastic Press Association for two issues submitted last year. The accolades, combined with the paper's cancellation and her own retirement, have created mixed feelings for Asher.

"It's been a work of love for me," she said. "I've taken pride in what we've accomplished, and how we've built this newspaper into a quality high school journalism program. It's mixed emotions, but I'm ready to retire."

Although the Viking Voice had an online presence for a few years, the small staff size and perpetual technological updates have been stressful and difficult when it comes to training students, Asher said.

Managing editor Timber Lockhart, 16, sophomore, of Coeur d'Alene, has been on the staff for a year. She said if she would have known about the Voice earlier, she would have joined.

"With the newspaper ending and everyone talking about an online paper, it just breaks my heart, because it's the end of an era," she said, tearfully. "You can't physically hold it, it's not something that I can do while I'm eating breakfast in the morning, or I can hang up on my wall."

She said she feels the loss of the physical paper is also a loss of the student news no one else covers.

"Technology is a great asset that we can do layout the way that we do, but there's some things that are lost in it," she said. "You won't be able to cut out your favorite clippings, or something that your kid's featured in."

For Timber, Asher's retirement doubles the emotion that comes with losing the Voice.

"We call her 'Mama A,'" Timber said. "We're kind of like her little flock."

Senior Kirk Abolafia, 18, of Hayden, is the ad manager and was managing editor last semester. He said a person can really tell the effort Asher has put into the newspaper from her endless hours of work and organization.

"She always makes sure everything is completely in order down to the detail, the picas, the structure of everything," he said. "She keeps us on a good leash."

Abolafia plans to go into media studies at Emmanuel College in Boston, where he will focus on journalism or broadcasting. He said the publications class has prepared him for what he will study in terms of jargon, Associated Press style and correct grammar.

"I've learned a lot," he said. "I genuinely have. It's been really cool to get a feel of what it's like to report on a matter, have deadlines in place, interview people and learn what you can and build a story out of it. And laying out newspapers, of course."

Assistant principal and activities director Todd Gilkey said the administration is leaving its options open for the future of the Viking Voice. At the present time, no one has stepped in to take over for Asher.

"Right now, we're just exploring our different options," he said. "We are looking at continuing the Viking Voice."

Hard copies of the Viking Voice can be picked up in the front office of CHS or at the Coeur d'Alene School District's central office, 1400 W. Northwood Center Court in Coeur d'Alene. Asher contributed a letter from the adviser, addressing her retirement and the present state of the Voice.

"It's going to be weird not to have the newspaper, because we're a family," Timber said. "It's like home in here and it won't be that next year."