To any Little Hawk journalist, the pressure to achieve perfection is not a new concept. However, that pressure increases exponentially with this issue. This edition must be the best of the best- the prettiest, the most well written, the most well thought out. In a mere amount of days, yours truly will be sitting in a room filled with members of the country’s top high school publications, eagerly awaiting the announcement of the winners of the most prestigious awards in high school journalism. We can only hope that the countless late nights in the newslab; mental breakdowns; days where we were living, breathing, and eating journalism; and all the blood (papercuts), sweat, and tears that went into making The Little Hawk the best it can be will result in obtaining something to be proud of for the rest of our lives- the glorified Pacemaker award.

Our features editors and writers worked hard to brainstorm interesting story ideas to tie in with the spooky holiday that happens to collide with paper release day, thus we give you Superstitious, the feature magazine full of ‘City High’s experiences with the supernatural’. While we aren’t promising you won’t see the typical overabundance of females roaming the halls as black felines come paper day, we do believe you will find great entertainment in reading about the unique supernatural experiences of your peers as well as the unknown effects of some of the ultra-sugary foods we all love to indulge in, in moderation. Key word: moderation.

More serious matters took over the newslab when news of a gun found at West High shook us all up a bit, shortly followed by the announcement of the tragic shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School near Seattle, Washington. Making light of a dark situation, this tied in perfectly with the front page news story Searching for Safety. The Little Hawk delved into the details behind City High’s security policies and practices incase of a school shooting event. The staff editorial also goes behind the scenes to uncover City High’s safety policy and shed light on the overlooked mental health component of the reasons behind school shootings. We as a staff also worked to uncover the details behind a very important aspect of our future as a newspaper- technology. Reporters visited schools in other districts to experience firsthand the technological differences and improvements happening in other schools, and also met with school officials from our district to discuss the possibility of one-to-one relationship between students and computers for City High.

The design team also stepped up their game this issue in order to come up with more creative layouts. We strived to produce interesting infographics and emotional photos to make our publication more enjoyable for all of you. Our job is to not only to provide you with the most important and recent happenings around you, but also to engage you, our primary audience, in the text, via aesthetically pleasing design and intriguing stories. That being said, our number one priority is to provide you with stories worth your time to read. We are excited for what the year holds, and we look forward to providing you, our readers, with the primary source of news and happenings here at The School That Leads. As always, we would love to hear your input and suggestions. The door is always open to room 2109.