HASTINGS, Neb. — A figure from the past is helping to make sure the future of Nebraska journalism is bright.

The journalism class at Hastings High School received 12 MacBook Air laptops on Thursday.

The family of Deb Hardin Quirk made the $15,000 gift after she passed away in June. Hardin Quirk was the editor of the Tiger Cub in 1968 under advisor and eventual lifelong friend Honey Lou Bonar.

“She thought that it gave everybody a voice and it was her real intent to make sure that as many students as possible during that year would be mentioned in the newspaper in some way,” Bonar said.

Hardin Quirk got her start in professional journalism by hosting her own show on KHAS radio in Hastings. She was the youngest person in the city with a radio engineers’ license. Her career took her away from journalism, but she never lost her curiosity.

“I don’t think that Deb every stopped asking questions and seeking answers and making sure she understood every side of the coin,” Bonar said.

The meaning behind the donation isn’t lost on the students.

“I feel like it’s just a piece of her that’s still here,” sophomore Lauryn Boutin said.

“(The Tiger Cub) made a huge impact on her life, so hopefully it will make a huge, big impact on my life too,” junior Hallie Schultz said.

The laptops come at a critical time for the Tiger Cub. The publication’s website doesn’t mesh with the school-issued Chromebooks and advisor Elizabeth Sorgenfrei is set to go on maternity leave in February.

“Without it, I don’t know if we would be able to continue," Sorgenfrei said. "We’ve been trying to figure out, what are we going to do to post (stories). A sub can’t do that, so we’ve been working with students — how was that going to work? This just allows me to go on maternity leave and know that they can do it by themselves.”

While the Tiger Cub looks different than in Hardin Quick’s era, the donation in her name guarantees it will continue. A fitting continuation of her legacy.

“When we were all looking at the faces of those students today," Bonar said. "I don’t think any of us were not moved to a reality — kids never change if we give them the opportunities.”