Hello all,

Happy October! Following our summer hiatus, The Herald is proud to be back this fall and reporting once again on all things Holyoke High School and beyond. After sadly losing many of our beloved seniors as we do each year, we are looking forward to our new and talented staff members and their particular passion for our exceptional journalism program.

I am both pleased and honored to be replacing our last year’s Editor-in-Chief, Melanie Kos, as she moves on to pursue her journalism career further at Dartmouth College, writing for The Dartmouth. We on The Herald are extremely excited and proud to see one of our own attending an Ivy League school and using the skills she has attained during her years at Holyoke High School.

Along with losing Melanie, we also graduated the majority of our editors, Matt Antil for Features and Hanna Smith for Sports, now being replaced by Nicole Lussier and Marty Keane, respectively. Our Calendar Manager Lindsey Martins has also graduated, now taken over by Siobhan Brennan. Our Public Relations, formerly run by Summer Kaeppel, is now being transferred to Maeghan Desmarais. Additionally our sports Live Tweeter, Katie Keane, is taking over the job for graduated Nathan Yee.

I am Sara Morin. I joined this program during my sophomore year and it was by far the best decision I have made during high school. I started off as a staff reporter sophomore year, winning the Melva Award for Rookie of the Year, and was promoted junior year to News Editor, now being taken over by staffer Josie Moriarty, also winning two Melva Awards for Best Photo Gallery and Best Holyoke High Sports Article. Now, as a senior, I move up to be the Editor-in-Chief and am extremely excited to do the job.

Outside of The Herald, I am very active in the Holyoke High community. I have been on both the varsity field hockey and swim team for all four years, where I have learned the importance of teamwork and leadership, being a captain of the swim team for my last two years. I, along with two of my peers, have created the wildly popular Holyoke High School Poetry Society, which even hosted its own poetry slam last year. I am a member of the National Honors Society, completing various hours of community service, as well as hosting events such as our annual Red Cross Blood Drive, held last week. Finally, I am a student council member for the Class of 2017 and hope to help create a memorable senior year for my fellow classmates.

The Herald already has bright plans for the future. Following a recent classroom discussion about the recent Junior/Senior Prom, one staffer is taking the initiative to contrast the day of preparation before a dance for a female versus a male. A podcast, interviewing a few members of the Boys’ Varsity Soccer team, is in the works with questions being written and the interview being scheduled. Party Planning Committee members Cameron Lachapelle and Feroze Sibdhanny have began planning the Herald’s lavish Halloween party. Photographers have been assigned senior nights, as well as the 100th annual Thanksgiving Day football game, to attend and compile photo galleries of the ceremonies and action on the field.

This year, even though it is only October, has brought many stories already. Megan McGuinness highlighted one of the biggest changes to come this year: the new ninth grade academy. Along with that new feature of the school there was also a new turf added to the athletic category, reported on by Manon Nadeau, and a new policy that has allowed phones to be used in public spaces, by Feroze Sibdhanny. The Governor of Massachusetts visited Holyoke High School to take note of improvements trying to bring improvement levels and graduation rates up. Senior Callie Cavanaugh committed to play D1 basketball at Florida International University and is looking forward to a great upcoming season. Looking at our website, you may have noticed a new section called Moriarty’s Monsters. This is a new feature we have added that will be updated weekly exploring “the strange and deranged” world of animals.

Be sure to follow us on social media to stay up to date on all things Holyoke and beyond. Our news twitter is @hhsherald and our sports twitter is @hhsheraldsports. Like us on Facebook “The Holyoke High Herald.” Also, email us at holyokehighpaper@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.