Dear Mavericks,
Welcome to the last publication of The Charge for the 2025-2026 school year! The year has passed in the blink of an eye, and I am extremely honored and thankful to have the privilege of closing this year’s chapter with my last article that will ever be published in The Charge.
The first year I joined this program, I kicked off my newspaper career as a comic artist and design head, not knowing I would end up being the Editor-in-Chief for The Charge. I viewed the growing newspaper program as a floor to test my abilities and discover my potential. However, I learned so much more than just my own skills and experiences. I learned about what it means to be a leader, a friend and a supporter to my staff members.
Our newspaper has spent the last couple of years building a strong foundation, and the steps we have taken and improvements we have made together cannot be compressed into just a few words. We not only earned the Bronze Star Potential award from the Interscholastic League Press Conference this year but also embraced diverse publication types, including an annual magazine fundraiser, a podcast, a travel log article and more.
The start of anything is perceived as intimidating, perhaps because we are prone to believing that we are far from achieving something deemed grand. However, my experience leading the proud staff taught me that the best stories start with just a handful of committed people. Thankfully, the newspaper team became a place where our niche passions and knowledge didn’t go unnoticed, but were nurtured in ways that transformed into meaningful outputs. Throughout my time as the Editor-in-Chief in my last year of high school, I learned that empowering others to carry the group’s vision forward and respecting each other’s efforts leads to a culmination of sustained strength. My commitment to the newspaper team throughout my high school career has been both a challenging and deeply rewarding experience, and I have no doubt the staff in the years ahead will continue building on our traditions to grow the program even further.
Above all, I would like to thank our newspaper adviser Mrs. Tolar for encouraging all of us to view the beginning as an opportunity to take risks, not as an obstacle that we need to overcome. She emboldened all of us to lead with curiosity and showed us how to lean on each other to build community along with covering stories that matter.
With gratitude and immense pride for this team and Emerson High School,
Yena Nam
Your 2025-2026 Editor-in-Chief
