The 2021 school year is finally here, and with it comes year 123 of the University School News! Between seniors excited for their final year, juniors ready to begin the college process, freshmen enjoying the novel experiences of high school, and sophomores also on campus, everyone has something to look forward to throughout the coming months. Our team of co-editors in chief, Isaac Haught, Braedon Olsen, and Theo Moll, along with opinion editor Abem Fetene and sports/A&E editor Charles Herrick, feel no different, as we couldn’t be more eager to get the ball rolling on yet another year of the longest-operating student-run newspaper in Ohio. Not only do we hope to build off of the tremendous work of past editors, but we also intend to grow the paper, adding readers and writers alike.

            Although the school year has just begun, we have been working hard to set up the future of US News and keep the staff/resources organized. There are various aspects to keep in mind when managing a paper, and all of us have done our best to find the balance between these aspects. After the so-called “keys” were handed over to us we were quick to plan EIC meetings, update the website and be ready for communications from the administration. Once we were given notice of the events fair, we made our posterboard, printed sign-up sheets, discussed recruitment strategies and mapped out who would run the booth. After a successful and productive start to the school year, it was time to plan the first meeting. This involved drafting an email, creating a working email list, going over our agenda and meeting with Dr. Daughtery to finalize a meeting location. Finally, we wanted to write this brief letter as the paper’s leadership to provide a synopsis of what we do, what we have done, and what we would like to get done over the next 8 or 9 months. 

            As Editors-in-Chief, our vision for this year’s edition of The US News is to ensure it is serving its purpose of not only providing a platform for students to make their voices heard and developing a sense of journalistic writing that they can take with them outside of the high school classroom, but also giving the student body a hub to read about school happenings, opinions from fellow students, and news relating to pop-culture. We plan to conduct weekly meetings during lunch with our staff writers in which we will discuss the basics of journalism and propose strategies for composing a well-written piece, brainstorm possible ideas to write about for The US News, and meet with writers one-on-one to revise and edit articles. We have several ideas to increase student engagement with US News. We plan to post QR Codes around the campus that will head right to our official website, where users can scroll through our latest articles. We also plan to make an effort to have the link to our website included in University School’s weekly newsletters. Our hope is that these efforts will lead to more widespread readership of The US News across the US community. With all of that in mind, we are looking forward to everything good that will come in the following weeks and months. None of this would be possible without our writers, student body, staff and sublime advisor, Dr. Foulds. So, thank you to everyone involved in University School News, and we’re really looking forward to kicking off this year!