When I first signed up for Journalism class to fulfill a requirement, I didn’t expect to leave intending to join a publication at college. During my time at the Pirate’s Eye, I’ve enjoyed feeling like part of a distinct student community and experiencing the unique yet complex nature of a school newspaper. Journalism has always been personally fascinating and to me, it is the pursuit of well-balanced truths with neutral language; being a student journalist in a time where I feel these values are lacking has allowed me to understand this complex field to better critique journalism in our time. I hope future students will enjoy looking back at our work and find as much interest and value in it as we’ve appreciated in archived newspapers.

Saliha Ahmed

Since freshman year, I have been involved with the Pirate’s Eye and Journalism Club. Over the past 4 years, I’ve grown as a writer and as a person, building meaningful friendships along the way. The most rewarding part of being in the newspaper community is seeing our hard work come to life – nothing beats the moment we receive our newspapers fresh off the press. Folding and flipping through each page and going to each class to hand out the issue we spent over a month to make is an experience I’ll never forget. Not only have I developed a love for writing, but I’ve also learned the importance of collaboration and gained leadership qualities that I use in many aspects of my life.

Julia Diez

When I enrolled in this class at the end of my junior year, I was looking forward to learning more about the basics of newspaper journalism and gaining a bit of insight into how mainstream media operates. Little did I know, I would be immersing myself in a highly collaborative workshop-style class where our staff goes above and beyond to give High School South students accurate, reliable, and interesting information. I hope to not only be remembered for exclusively the work I have done for the Pirate’s Eye, but also for the way I have been able to effectively highlight the incredible stories of South students and faculty, achievement of which can only be brought to attention through the work of this newspaper. 

Arjun Khanna

Since freshman year, I have been involved with the Pirate’s Eye and Journalism Club. Over the past 4
years, I’ve grown as a writer and as a person, building meaningful friendships along the way. The
most rewarding part of being in the newspaper community is seeing our hard work come to
life – nothing beats the moment we receive our newspapers fresh off the press. Folding and flipping through each page and going to each class to hand out the issue we spent over a month to make is an
experience I’ll never forget. Not only have I developed a love for writing, but I’ve also learned the
importance of collaboration and gained leadership qualities that I use in many aspects of my life. 

Sana Manchanda

I signed up for journalism class as I was part of the club and wanted to work more with the newspaper. For me at least this was the hardest class I took this year. The writing process is indeed hard! I am grateful for this challenge though. I was able to work really hard to put out a few articles and I always felt both relief and celebration for my work being at a publishable quality. I have no doubt that The Pirates Eye is a core institution here at South that is worth working hard for, and as much as this school might produce the next generation of scientists and engineers I hope that the next generation of Journalists and writers might come from future Pirate’s Eye alumni as well . 

Keerthan Murali

I feel so lucky to have been a part of The Pirate’s Eye this year. This class has opened my eyes to what goes into creating a newspaper (brainstorming, drafts, interviews, and so much editing!), and the joys of working with a team. I’ll never forget my first printed issue– After months of work I could finally hold something I helped create. It’s been so much fun getting to report on what’s happening around South and having the support to pursue more humorous ideas like a chewed gum investigation or an interview with ChatGPT. Working on this publication with my fellow senior journalists has been such a pleasure, and I have no doubt our newspaper will continue to be the Pirate’s gold for years to come.

Miki Schnitzer