EDITOR’S NOTE

Find the PDF version of the printed newspaper here: https://indd.adobe.com/view/77702dcf-2c6a-4040-abc3-cf5677cc6068

Adapting. That seems to be a common theme this year. Adapting to loss, adapting to changes, and adapting to a new way of living. 

Nearly every aspect of life looks different than it did at this time last year. To say that things have changed would be an understatement. I never thought I would leave school for spring break and not come back, and I certainly never imagined I would spend the first part of my senior year apart from half of my class. 

This is not to sound ungrateful. Even being at school for just two days a week is a vast difference from ending last year completely online. I understand the changes that happened are necessary to keep everyone safe, and I’m appreciative of the effort our district puts into making choices for our well-being. This is just to say that these changes have been hard. 

Even on a staff level, we’ve experienced our share of difficulties. We went from working on the paper five days a week as a complete team to being split in half, with only one day of work for each group. We also decreased in staff size, moving from 24 members to just 16. To accommodate these changes, we cut back on the number of papers we’re putting out this year. Rather than seven issues, we will have a new paper each quarter, with an additional fifth issue at the end of the year. We’ve also transitioned to a 24-page paper instead of 32. 

Regardless of the changes happening in the world around us, our goal as a staff remains the same: to inform the students of current events in the district. This issue covers everything from a new superintendent and the school’s plan moving forward with hybrid learning to teachers and students adapting to the changes. 

On a lighter note, this issue also includes a staff-made music playlist and a recap on homecoming. We understand that this issue is very COVID heavy regarding content, but that is what this paper is: a reflection of what is happening in our school. Our hope moving forward is that we can try to provide a bit of normalcy amongst everything that is happening.

Due to the hybrid learning schedule, software issues, and going remote, the quarter 1 issue of The Totem has come out late.