Staff Letter

50 th

COVER: The cover is a collage of headlines, photos, and covers of Griffin Rites issues from throughout the years. The centerpiece of it all is a photo of Winnetonka High School, as it originally appeared in the first issue of Griffin Rites back in 1971. Cover designed by Daniel Smith. STAFF 2019-20

| Maria Bisby, 11 | Cheyenne Brown, 09 | Ruth Estrada, 09 | Hailey Johnson, 12 | Elizabeth Payton, 12 | Marshall Payton, 11 | Kaylee Renno, 10 | Daniel Smith, 12 | Shannon Le Grand, Adviser GUEST CONTRIBUTORS

| Kelsey Cowden, photos | Laura Ryczek, photos | Isabel Sedwig, photos | Anthony Gann, writing | Kameryn Young, artwork DEAR READER,

After 50 years, Winnetonka High School continues to stand strong and provide an excellent school for its surrounding community. Throughout the decades, Winnetonka has made ground-breaking strides in areas such as academic success, diversity inclusion and a student-led culture. The purpose of any high school is to educate their students, but Winnetonka goes further with a climate focused on preparing its Griffins to soar into the world and excel at whatever they are passionate about. This school has created a legacy that will only continue to grow as the students, staff and administration continue to change the world around it (The) Griffin Rites has worked hard over these 50 years to inform students on what was happening in and around Winnetonka, with countless numbers of issues distributed every year to students, staff and the surrounding community. This year’s staff is honored to have contributed in this journalistic tradition and we wish everyone a happy Tonka anniversary. anniversary edition OUR PURPOSE

Griffin Rites strongly supports the First Amendment and opposes censorship. Freedom of expression and press are fundamental values in a democratic society. The mission of institutions committed to preparing productive citizens must include teaching these values, both by example and lesson.

We welcome letters to our staff, and reserve the right to edit them for length and clarity, but not

to change ideas. Letters may be opinionated and argumentative but not hostile. They must be signed and submitted to F6 or mailed to Shannon Le Grand at 5815 NE 48th St., Kansas City, MO 64119.

Advertising space is available. Please contant Shannon Le Grand at winnetonkanews@gmail.com for more information. Our organization is a member of JEMKC, MIPA and NSPA.