Countless hours have been spent by The A-Blast staff on formatting and editing the newspaper that is so widely known at AHS. However, it is time for this to be passed down to newbies who will be the future of The A-Blast. As AHS enters its spring chapter, The A-Blast begins a new generation of staff members and leaves behind a great year with the departing seniors.
The new positions were announced at the copy meeting after distribution day for the tenth issue. Staff members held their future on The A-Blast within a folded piece of paper. Many were ecstatic to see that they were given their first choice, while others were merely content with their secondary choices.
“I’m really excited to be an editor next year and have the opportunity to co-design a page for each issue because I like the chance to channel my creativity and come up with new ideas for the newspaper,” sophomore Megan Flynn said. Flynn will serve as next year’s People editors alongside senior Becca Hendrickson.
The Co-Editors in Chief will be seniors C.J. Aftergut and Annie Curran for next year, while the Managing Editor will be senior Nikki Contrino. The full list of staff positions is posted on The A-Blast Facebook page for everyone to see.
Unveiling these positions unleashes a new period where The A-Blast veterans must start their training with the upcoming staff. They must pair up with those who have been assigned their position for next year in order to prepare them. Showing the new staff how to use InDesign and Photoshop are some of the tasks that are needed for this preparation process.
“If any of the newbies need help in InDesign they can always ask for it from the seniors at any time,” senior Gessica Azzam said.
The next issue will be created by the new staff, with the veteran editors serving as their training wheels. However, when the last issue of the year comes along, the training wheels will be taken off and they will have to show what they can do on their own.
The A-Blast seniors leave the staff and school this year, but they have truly left their mark through their work. After many late nights and a large amount of effort, the time has come for the mother ducks to leave their ducklings. Now, the newspaper staff must embark on a new episode with its new staff members.
