A sheriff’s lieutenant once called journalism teacher and yearbook adviser Stephen Baxter to thank him for a story he had published, an incident Baxter remembers to this day. The piece, which covered a shooting in Santa Cruz County in 2016, helped generate new leads in the case. At the time, Baxter was covering crime and breaking news at the Santa Cruz Sentinel, never imagining he would be standing in front of a classroom teaching every weekday.
Before he came to the upper school, Baxter spent over 15 years as a reporter and editor at Bay Area newspapers and co-founded a nonprofit news outlet, Santa Cruz Local. Now, he brings a career’s worth of experience in reporting to the upper school journalism program. For Baxter, journalism offers both unpredictability and purpose.
“I like that every day is different,” Baxter said. “You’re paid to understand the world better, and you get to do sometimes fun things, sometimes very difficult things. I also really like the competitive aspect of it. You have to hustle and pound pavement sometimes, and that’s what makes you a good reporter. It can drain you sometimes, but it’s worth it.”
This work ethic traces back to his time in college, where he worked at the Hartford Courant and fact-checked at Mother Jones Magazine. An editor there encouraged him to apply to Northwestern University’s Medill journalism graduate program, where Baxter earned his master’s degree.
“My favorite part about being a reporter or journalist is when you’ve done a ton of reporting and finally have all the information, and you actually just get to sit down, write and express yourself through facts,” Baxter said. “That anticipation and that worry about, did I get everything right? There’s nothing like it. It’s full of anxiety, but it also has a bit of thrill mixed in.”
His love for reporting never faded, even as Baxter shifted into new roles. When he moved into his role at Harker, his curious nature carried over to teaching, which Director of Journalism and Department Chair Whitney Huang noticed quickly.
“Even at the very beginning of summer, we met and started talking through curriculum, and he was very inquisitive,” Huang said. “I could tell it was from his reporter background — he immediately took out a notebook and started writing things down. He would constantly ask follow-up questions, ask for clarification. There wasn’t ever a time when I would say something and feel like it would just go out into the air and disappear.”
During his time at the Sentinel, Baxter saw an opportunity to fill gaps in local coverage. In 2019, he teamed up with his former Sentinel managing editor to co-found the Santa Cruz Local, a nonprofit news outlet focused on housing, health and the environment in Santa Cruz County.
“We wanted to zig where others zagged — cover things that other people weren’t covering,” Baxter said. “Housing was really one of those things. There’s a big housing shortage over there, and there were a lot of new projects coming up. To be able to pull it off and say that it’s still going seven years later now is pretty cool.”
Baxter’s role as a mentor to other journalists grew with his publication. Helping train freelance writers and photographers in reporting and writing made Baxter realize he wanted to bring the same mentorship into the classroom.
“I found myself helping freelancers and wanting them to get better,” Baxter said. “I really enjoyed that process of seeing them get better over time. That’s what drew me to teaching. I’m honestly really impressed with how sharp the Harker students have been — it’s a pretty well-oiled machine that I’m walking into.”
Bringing the mindset of a technical reporter to Harker, he now encourages students to approach publications like the TALON yearbook with a deeper focus on storytelling.
As Baxter adjusted from the newsroom to a classroom, mentors like Director of Alumni Relations Caren Furtado helped navigate the transition.
“Mr. Baxter is very sincere, and he genuinely wants what is best,” Furtado said. “He’s open to the idea that he’s not doing everything right on the first trip and that he just needs time to experiment and see how things work out. As a teacher, these qualities translate into being a role model, and that’s the biggest long-term impact we have on students. Anyone can teach material, but to really teach values and to live those values — that is the higher responsibility.”
Outside the newsroom and the classroom, surfing has shaped much of Baxter’s life. Raised in San Diego and spending his high school years in Brazil, Baxter found a love for the ocean early on. His passion for surfing has brought him to more than 20 countries and opened his worldview.
“Surfing is one of those things that takes a lot of persistence,” Baxter said. “The first year or two are difficult. Once you get decent at it, it’s just the best thing ever, but it takes a lot of experience and strength. Now, I’ve traveled all over the place to surf, and it’s one of those things that’s a good excuse to go around the world, if you can pull it off.”
Baxter extends his teaching to the ocean, where he guides his children through learning to surf. Family moments at the beach remind Baxter of the importance of patience and encouragement.
“It’s almost more fun watching my kids surf and surfing with them, than doing it myself, because I just see the stoke on their face,” Baxter said. “It’s just great to be in nature with them. I love it.”
Baxter hasn’t left reporting behind — and he believes he never will. He continues to look for ways to balance teaching, reporting, surfing and his family.
“I’m still searching for the balance,” Baxter said. “Reporting is one of those things you could do forever. Some of those early podcasts back at the Sentinel, we would finish at midnight or one o’clock in the morning. Then, at my next job, I would make my own hours because I was the editor-in-chief. But honestly, I really love teaching because it’s more organized. I know what’s going to happen, and for this stage of my life, it’s good.”