Through a challenging yet progressive school year, The Pearl Post newspaper managed to finish with consistently releasing a monthly issue that had exceptional pictures and groundbreaking articles that covered the year’s most controversial topics.

Our staff was able to accomplish many goals for this year including timeliness, accuracy and communication. I believe that we were able to slowly achieve these goals as it took longer than expected for the staff to get situated with their position and responsibilities.

I had an expectation for this year’s staff to be able to communicate efficiently and effectively. Many times there was a lack of understanding over certain assignments and until the very last minute, then they were brought up. This eventually developed into a larger problem as we had bigger and more important articles that had to be written and in the end were poorly completed.

With dedication and hard work, I’ve seen the potential of this staff rise and reach new heights. Toward the end of the school year, many staff writers and photographers began to show more initiative and drive to complete their work to the best of their ability. I began to see certain people take on more assignments and work hard toward finishing their year on staff strong. They began to work on more investigative stories about the various movements that filled the mainstream media including the #MeToo movement about sexual violence, protecting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and the #NeverAgain movement concerning gun reform in wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school shooting that killed 17 students and staff.

The hard work of the staff has brought many awards that have proved their determination. During the Los Angeles Journalism Education Association Write-offs on Feb. 24, many staff members placed such as Rudraj Koppikar who placed 5th in News Writing, Rachel Bullock who placed 4th in Photography, Jade Campbell who placed 6th in Photography, Julissa Rangel who placed 5th in Feature Writing, Karina Mara who placed 4th Sports Writing, Steven Guzman who placed 10th in News Writing, Melissa Hernandez who placed 7th in Features Writing, David Eskichyan who placed 8th in Sports Writing and Angel Van Horn who placed 7th in Opinion Writing. The staff also received 2nd place in the Sweepstakes Awards at this write off.

At the Southern California  Journalism Education Association write-offs in March, Photo Editor Rachel Bullock placed first in sports photography.

At the national Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association’s national convention in April in San Francisco, staff writer Rudraj Koppikar received an honorable mention in news writing, Features Editor Michelle Kaganovsky received an honorable mention in feature writing and staff writer David Eskichyan received an honorable mention in sports writing.

And just last week, The Pearl Post was name a finalist in the Los Angeles Press Club for Best High School Newspaper category, a nomination we’ve continued to receive every year since 2012.

This year has a very challenging yet hard working staff who with time came together to produce exceptional work. I am very proud to see so many staff writers, photographers and editors improve and finally reach their goals. I had very high expectations for this staff and they showed me they had the abilities to reach and go past what I thought they could do. I am very proud to be the Editor-in-chief of The Pearl Post and to see our staff accomplish more than they thought was possible.