On August 16 of 2018, the Jetstream Journal office was filled by a group of students who were mostly strangers to one another. Tension filled the air as kids isolated themselves with the people they already knew in the class and avoided eye contact with the others.

However, article after article, debate upon debate and many pancake days later, that same group of awkward kids has now turned into a tight-knit family.

And that makes it so much harder to say goodbye.

Michael Boe, Hillary Schiff, Leilani Hammonds and Kaitlyn Waynick. These are the people who took the Jetstream Journalists under their wings and taught us everything we know about being a successful writer.

“Thank you to the seniors for improving our writing and teaching us how to write well about things we are passionate about,” says junior journalist Elina Landin. 

All the seniors worked as an editing team and were so patient with each article, never failing to talk us through the small mistakes and always helping us improve.

“I’m gonna miss all of them, I learned a lot from them all. I’m gonna miss nit-picking through my articles with Michael and all the heated debates we have,” said junior Kailey Baldwin.

Michael is the musician, he is serious in a sarcastic way, can debate about anything and is friendly in a way that makes you feel like you belong.

“Michael and I had really good debates the whole year. We argued about a five thousand year old song, until we found out we were arguing the exact same point,” said junior Eli Andrew.

As the Jetstream Journal staff downsized moving into the second semester, we all got closer, which led to us sharing our different views on certain things. With each debate, we would learn a little bit more about each other and the world. With Michael, there was almost always an opposing view, but he was so patient in hearing others out and giving us some of his opinions. I believe what we learned from him will eternally help us in writing and beyond.

Hillary is the genius, lighthearted, smart, and super funny person who walked into the newsroom every day with the goal of making everyone smile. You could always count on her to make sneaky jokes and create the funniest photoshopped images.

“Hillary has taught me that you don’t have to take writing so seriously and the best articles come out of the ones you enjoy writing. She also taught me dashes are really useful and how reaching outside of the box and taking risks pays off,” said junior journalist Casey Hogan.

“Hillary, thank you so much for helping me the whole school year and dealing with my craziness. And thanks to you, I finally learned how to correctly use dashes,” said junior journalist Olivia Joyce.

The new staff needed a bit of practice before the articles slowly started to improve, and Hillary has always been there to give her honest opinion and help in any way that she can. Her knowledge goes beyond just dashes: she has shown us how to write wholeheartedly and with passion; we have confidence that we will not let her down next year.

“They are the big reason this class is as fun as it is. Leilani is my sister and next year, I’m not going to have anyone to talk to or someone who constantly steals my food,” said junior editor Rose Jones.

Leilani is the caretaker, she is sweet, always there when you need her help and always making sure everyone is doing their best. After pancake days, she would always help clean up no matter how many times she’d done it before.

Leilani would go through the articles as many times as the staff needed until they were confident about publishing. We have all learned from her kindness, and hope we can radiate the same energy to our staff next year.

Last but not least, there is Kaitlyn, the leader. She is an amazing writer, a dedicated editor, and an amazing friend. She has taught me to never be afraid of what to write, and see the keyboard of my computer as a blank canvas for my art.

Kaitlyn spent countless nights editing every single story, double-checking for mistakes and gathering feedback for us. The staff, along with the newspaper, would be completely lost without her help. Through her guidance, we were all able to become better at time management and gathering effective tools for our articles.

Four individuals who helped a group of younger journalists turn the ideas in their heads into words on a screen. We have all acquired some of their traits and hope we can be just as amazing leaders in the years to follow.

Through pushed deadlines and writer’s blocks, we have always had the senior editors to catch us when we fall. What started as a core elective class, turned into a wonderful adventure no one expected. Thank you, Michael, Hillary, Leilani and Kaitlyn. We hope you find success wherever life takes you.