katie gaughan
opinion
washingtonian
5.14.10
The beginning of chapter two Katie Gaughan Editor-in-Chief This is it, my 22nd and final issue of the Washingtonian. It has been an interesting journey, one I am glad to have taken part in. My newspaper career dates back to the Odyssey days. I remember doing a fashion page and the occasional photo poll. Then came journalistic writing, a class that prepared me for the Washingtonian. I became a reporter in January 2008, worked my way up to a section editor the next year and now the editor-in-chief. A position that occasionally stresses me to the max, but allows me to express my love for journalism.
Many people browse the newspaper and then toss it, they don’t realize the time and effort we put into each issue. In two weeks, we try our best to make it as perfect as possible. Of course, there are a few errors which people definitely make a point to tell us, but the stories and pictures that are well done outweigh the minor flaws. We create the paper for others enjoyment, it is a leisure item we provide and should not be taken for granted. It is kind of bitter sweet to be writing my final piece for the Washingtonian, it has been a crazy adventure. I’ve met new people, learned new things and found the career I want for my future. I’m going to Simpson College in a few months and have already decided to write for the Simpso-
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nian. I’m majoring in journalism and hope to eventually become a columnist for a big time paper-preferably the New York Times. My goals may be set high, but I started as a reporter and worked my way up in two years and I think with a little bit of patience and a lot of hard work I can rock it in the real world. I want to extend a huge thank you to all the people who have supported the newspaper, especially Holly Soboroff, or as most of us call her “Sob.” She keeps us entertained with her dancing and hilarious antics and has been an excellent mentor. Chapter one of my life is almost over and its time to begin chapter two. I am more than ready.
The new kid on the block Chelsea McClelland Managing Editor
Pre-school, elementary school, middle school, high school: most of the students in Washington have taken all of these steps in their lives together, but not me. I moved to Washington during the summer before eighth grade, and I didn’t know anyone. I went to the junior high that first day of school knowing not one person in my grade, scared out of my mind, thinking that I could never make friends here. But then I walked into the choir room, and two nice blonde girls asked me to sit next to them. I knew then that this town was different then I expected it to be. That day was the beginning of the best five years of my life.
It took me a while to find a group of friends that I actually fit in with. For two years I hung out with a group of four girls that had been friends for years before I came along. There was drama between us all the time. Part of it was our age, but part of it was that we were just out growing each other, and by ninth grade, I realized that I needed some new friends. On a field trip with Ms. Stanley’s class, I talked to a girl I had never met before. We found millions of things we had in common, and the friendship came easy. Gradually, through this girl, I met more and more friends. I realized that I had missed out on meeting so many wonderful people because of my previous acquaintances.
I have met so many good people since that day, and I am proud to say that I am so much better off. It makes me sad that I shut myself off from these people in the beginning, but I guess that was a learning experience. I look forward to continuing all of these relationships after high school, and looking back on these past few years with a smile. There have been hundreds of inside jokes, thousands of pictures, and millions of embarrassing moments; and even though I have not known them since pre-school, I feel as if I have known them forever.
Letter to the editor-Thanks for the Memories On June 4th at 1:10 when that final bell rings for the school year the students are going to go running out of the building celebrating summer break, the teachers are going to heave a sigh of relief that one more class made it through the year. I am going to stop and take a deep breath, hold my head high, and leave WHS for the last time as a staff member. Maybe that sounds like I will be relieved, or maybe that sounds like I am being stuck up; just realize that I am leaving knowing that I was responsible for 4 years to see that you had healthy meals, and 6 years in the Media /Learning Center to touch others lives, and maybe or maybe not they will have good memories like I do. Maybe you will remember the day I sat and cried with you, or made you smile and laugh even when you didn’t want to. I am talking to both staff and students. Because we have all been one large family, people have left and new faces became
a part of our family. You have allowed me to be a grandma to some, a mother to others, and a friend to many. Without you in my life I wouldn’t have grown or learned near what you have taught me. For this I am more than thankful, I am blessed. I can’t thank everyone enough for letting me touch your life and for you touching mine. I wish all a wonderful future, whatever it brings, and that you never forget to read books or ask for help from whoever you feel comfortable in talking to. Every staff member here is working here because they adore being a part of the family and forming students into young
“I wish all a wonderful future, whatever it brings, and that you never forget to read books or ask for help from whoever you feel comfortable in talking to.”
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ASHINGTONIAN
The Washingtonian staff is currently made up of thirteen members who are responsible for the production of the WHS monthly newsmagazine. These responsibilities include advertising, reporting, design, photography and anything else necessary to serve their readers. The staff is governed by the Editorial Board. Letters to the editor are welcome. The Washingtonian is printed at the Quad City Times.
Washingtonian Staff 313 South Fourth Avenue Washington, Iowa 52353
Fax: (319) 653-6751 Phone: (319) 653-2143 Email at: hsoborof@washington.k12.ia.us
adults that will become our future. That is why they work so hard together, and help each other. Maybe had circumstances been different I would have come back next year, but change is something that happens to us all, and how we go about that change is up to us. We can either go into it as a negative and not prosper, or we can take it head on and meet the challenge with a positive. I am one who always tried to teach my own children that you have to go into a challenge with a positive attitude to make it work; therefore I choose to make this a positive and make my life successful, but not without all the memories of 10 wonderful years spent with my WHS Family. Thanks everyone for the MEMORIES. Cindy Gonterman
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ASHINGTONIAN STAFF
Katie Gaughan Editor-in-Chief Chelsea McClelland Managing Editor Drew Dickerson Event Coordinator MacKenzie Murphy Design Editor Kaleb Rich Sports Editor Mackenzie Adrian Reporter Rachel Carnes Reporter Cody Embree Reporter
Rebecca Dunbar Reporter Miguel Marcelino Reporter Sierra Mills Reporter Taylor Richardson Reporter Ricky Vazquez Reporter Holly Soboroff Advisor Shane Ehresman Principal