Through editing and writing for The Panther Voice, I have come to discover the true beauty of the school newspaper is its power to connect people. For reporters, The Panther Voice provides an outlet to share their voices and reach the study body. For readers, The Panther Voice helps them to hear what students have to say through opinion pieces and editorials and stay informed through articles on both community and global news. Personally, I am extremely grateful for the countless connections I have developed through The Panther Voice. I have gotten to know administrators and teachers in interviews, formed friendships with the other reporters and editors, and had the pleasure of working closely with our advisor Ms. Moleski.
"I have come to discover the true beauty of the school newspaper is its power to connect people."
It has been extremely exciting to watch the connective nature of the paper grow in the past four years. Two years ago, The Panther Voice went from an 8 page paper to 12 pages. As student interest in writing for the paper has expanded, these four extra pages have been filled with additional content. The Panther Voice has also released two “special issues” solely focused on gun control after the Parkland shootings and on the 2019 midterm elections. These were open to submissions from the entire student body, resulting in a paper filled with many different perspectives and voices from new writers. And, most significantly, this past year, The Panther Voice expanded to a new platform. In the 2019 graduation issue, Gabe Gerstel (Editor-in-Chief, 2017-2019) announced that The Panther Voice would be creating a website, though planning was still preliminary. This year’s Editorial Board wanted to move forward with modern technology, but also wanted to make sure the school newspaper continued to be printed.
This October, we released our first issue of the 2019-20 school year. I spent many late nights in front of my computer to make the dream of a digital version a reality. Along with the print paper, our website went live on the day the papers were physically distributed. I was thrilled that now, not only students were reading the paper, but also parents and community members had easy access. At the time, I did not realize just how vital this website would be for the rest of the year.
Despite not being in school, the Editorial Board was determined to release the final issue. I am ecstatic that we will be using our website to publish our first fully virtual issue of The Panther Voice. We recognize that it was even more important to feel connected to one another under these circumstances. Reporters were especially eager to share their voices in this issue and honor the Class of 2020.
As I sign off, I am especially excited to hand down the paper to Elizabeth Chun as the new Editor-in-Chief. Under her leadership, I am confident that next year’s Editorial Board will continue to implement innovative ideas to expand the power of the paper. I am looking forward to staying connected to Ardsley High School through the virtual version of The Panther Voice.
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