The Mainstreeter Community Newspaper of Old Ottawa East

We envision The Mainstreeter to be the trusted and independent source for the ideas, information, news and events that affect the Old Ottawa East community. Old Ottawa East is our news and information beat, and local journalism is our passion. As a non-profit corporation, we have proudly served our community continuously for 41 years on a volunteer basis since 1985, and we commit ourselves to cover local issues in print and online that matter most to our residents. But within Old Ottawa East, The Mainstreeter is more than a community newspaper. Increasingly, we seek to be a community-builder. Through A Walk of Art, our annual outdoor exhibit of local artists, and through our popular community calendar, Artists of Old Ottawa East, and other community-minded gift products, we enthusiastically promote the work of Old Ottawa East’s many talented artists and artisans. We mentor young journalists, and we offer work-like experiences to young members of our army of volunteer distributors. Everyday, in our journalism and in our operations, we strive to reflect, enhance and build Old Ottawa East, and we seek to engage all members of our community. As a fiercely independent and impartial purveyor of local news and information, we work hard to earn our community’s trust through professionalism, fairness and integrity. We have a variety of volunteer opportunities for high school students. For those residing in Old Ottawa East, there are opportunities to help distribute our community newspaper which is published six times per year in February, April, June, August, October and December, usually around the 15th of each of these months. Delivering The Mainstreeter on an assigned route usually takes about an hour or so per each issue, or up to about nine hours of volunteer work if the volunteer delivers all six issues in a calendar year. Another volunteer opportunity could see high school students contributing articles that they would write (sorry, no AI use in our newspaper!) for possible publication in The Mainstreeter. Draft articles on topics including high school life, specific activities like sports, arts and culture, music and opinion articles on topics that are timely and important to youth would all be welcomed for consideration in the newspaper. Articles should not exceed 600 words and should be submitted by email to editor@mainstreeter.ca. Finally, students are always welcomed to volunteer at The Mainstreeter's annual community event, entitled A Walk of Art, which is the annual outdoor art exhibit and tour of Old Ottawa East, which takes place each year in late September. Planning of the event begins late in the high school year and could provide useful experience in planning and staging community events.