As the days grow closer and I start to do the last memories of High School, I’ve realized how much Newspaper and Broadcasting class impacted my life. From the people, to the life lessons or the random mental breakdowns and rants, I’ve learned so many valuable things and created the best memories.

Freshman year: What a year to begin with. At first I was the quiet girl in the front with 14 seniors and 1 junior. No sophomores and I’m the only freshman. When I say it was a hilarious class, I’m not kidding. We had a week long debate on if Harry Potter was a horror movie. One of them walked in and fell asleep in the corner. We watched movies and told our stories. Hashemi, the teacher at the time, had to show the class that I was a freshman as they didn’t believe me when I told them. There’s so many other memories I could talk about but the lessons I learned where amazing. I learned not only how to be a Chatfield student with pride but I was able to come out of my bubble and create friends who weren’t in my grade. While we didn’t do much work for the class itself I learned how to write articles and what information to use when creating them. To the senior class of 2019 you guys will forever crack me up and I thank you for the lasting friendships I’ve made with you and the life lessons you taught me and the amazing year.

Sophomore year: New teacher (Mrs. Gunkel), completely new Newspaper staff. Everyone from the last year had graduated and the one junior ended up not taking the class so I had to start again. Not only did I meet one of the best friends and the best teacher I could ever wish for, for the class and in our lives but I also met so many amazing and creative people who I couldn’t imagine my high school without. We, as a class, started anew and I can’t believe looking back at all of the chaos and the web designing how far as a class we have gotten. While I missed a few months due to health issues, after I came back we were writing and doing the Charger Report even better than before. The design was up, the logo was amazing and that year we did 179 different articles and Charger Reports. With a flexible grading system in place and with buying new cameras we were set for the next few years. In that time frame I not only learned about how to create a valid story but also the class sparked my obsession with photography and using pictures to my advantage when writing articles. I was able to use the things I had written to finally show family members and colleges what Chatfield is all about and how engaging the community of Chatfield is.

Junior year: The COVID year. While COVID was a thing with masks, possibly being shut down at every moment and many other things the world was in another state of chaos, however, we as Chatfield students took this to our advantage. We branched out to parents to take pictures at games, we got CHSAA passes which allowed us to attend sporting events for free and finally the class was coming together. With a grand total of 9 students in the class it was small but we bonded so much more than I ever remember. I was able to connect with a senior at the time, Samantha Rossman, who taught me how to edit the website and other peoples articles. We vamped up the site even more and more people were looking at the website with each coming day. As a class we had in depth conversations, via zoom and in class, about what goals we want to see this class get to and what other things we can improve within Chatty Matters and within our school. I want to thank Mrs.Gunkel for always keeping us on our toes with new ideas all the time and being so open about the class and about Chatfield. Being in this class especially my junior year where everything seemed like it was falling apart helped me realize it’s about the small moments and memories within that keep us going. I sadly had to say goodbye to our seniors of 2021 in which it seemed like the class could disappear but not all hope was lost.

Senior year: Oh what a year it has been. 4 days, at the time of writing this, left and I can’t wait for it to be over but I also don’t want to leave the community that as a class we have built. We had a spark of interest within the class and at a record high we got around 17 students. Three of whom, including me, were veterans. This year has been astounding with all of the posts and different unique things Chatty Matters has started to do and include. We’ve had podcasts, hype videos (thank you Avery Imus), a new system for the Charger Report and tons of articles. There’s so many small details that go into this class and looking at it like a whole it seems impossible but Chatfield students never give up. We keep on charging. This year was one of the best, if not the best, for not only Chatty Matters which now has a huge following but also for Chatfield as a whole. We’ve had so many different activities, events, and awards being given this year that it seemed like there was never not something to cover. We taught all the new students, redid the website once again and are now seeing higher numbers and more activity on our website. For the website only being three years old we’ve done over 568 different types of articles, charger reports, videos, podcasts and so much more. I couldn’t be more proud of the work that this class has done and for the friendships it has given me. I have full faith that next year will be even better from the ones before and that the community of this class grows. I am so thankful as a high school student, an editor and a part of the class of 2022 that I was in this class for the past four years. This class has taught me about patience, commitment, honor, integrity and of course community and friendship. Thank you.