Dear Chelsea Journalism Program,
For all four years of high school, I have been part of the journalism program, starting as a staff writer and eventually growing into the role of Editor-in-Chief. As my final year comes to an end and I leave the program in the hands of Mrs. Yee and future editors, I just want to reflect on how the class has impacted me and say thank you to those who have facilitated my growth into Editor-in-Chief.
To Mr. Schilt, thank you for setting the foundation of my love for journalism and getting me into the class. When I signed up, I didn’t know anything about it and honestly thought it would be about journaling. When I first walked into the journalism room and realized it was basically a fully equipped newsroom, I was honestly confused. Part of me even wanted to drop the class. But as I stuck with it over the first few weeks and got through boot camp, I realized that I really enjoyed it and actually had fun. As the class neared its end for the trimester, I enjoyed it even more when we got pizza, desserts, and just had fun overall once the then seniors left and the class was only about 10 people. You and Mrs. Woodruff truly helped me try something new. I can’t overstate how grateful I am that I did.
To Mrs. Woodruff, the teacher that I have taken the most classes from at CHS, they almost make up an entire year if you were wondering. Even though you were out on maternity leave for probably half of the time I had you, you still left a lasting impact on me as a person and who I am today. It was you who helped me to be more strict with the staff and to be clear and up-front about problems that were there and how we needed to fix them. You also trusted me to take on the Copy Editor role my sophomore year, and even though I wasn’t the most productive the year prior, you knew I could handle it and get my work done while meeting our deadlines. While I know I could be a bit of a hassle at times, and Sydney and I occasionally bickered, I truly appreciated being able to be a part of the editor team, and I think they appreciated me being there, too. While my advisers shaped my growth, the editors around me helped me find confidence in my place within the program.
To my fellow editors, thank you for believing in me. For the ones that saw me my freshman year, and then saw me in the editor’s room the following year, I’m sure there was some doubt about me, but I appreciate you giving me a chance to prove myself. Especially during that first trimester, when I wasn’t in the class but still copy-editing stories daily. For Lindsay especially, I appreciate you and Sonja always helping me when I needed it and sticking up for me when others were doubting me. For the more recent ones, thank you, guys, for trusting me to get my work done. When I got bored and started experimenting with the layout of the website, thank you for letting me try some new colors and layouts, even if they didn’t look good. And for my current team, thank you for allowing me to fill the Editor-in-Chief role. This was the final year to achieve something I had unknowingly been working toward for the previous three years. And you all trusted me to convey our issues to Mrs. Yee and Mrs. Woodruff, and even to the staffers who may or may not be the root of said issues. Thank you for letting me become the leader I had always hoped to be in this program.
Finally, to Mrs. Yee who I owe the biggest thanks. Sophomore year, when I joined the editing team, you joined us too, and it was your first year as adviser. Even though I’m sure the role came as a surprise to you, and you were thrown into the position, you were able to fill the space left empty and be the leader we all needed. And when I came to you that one morning to talk about becoming an editor, even though we barely knew each other at the time, you still trusted me to be the copy editor and work with the other editors to make the paper functional. Junior year, you saw the more tech-savvy side of me and were the sole reason I moved into the online editor role, which ended up being the right decision because I have been able to change up the look of the website and even introduce new programs that helped tremendously to expedite our in-class processes. One of my favorite examples of this was working together to implement Sno-Flow, something that ultimately transformed how efficiently our class operated. Even in these last few days, I feel like I am forgetting things that I need to teach someone, so that the things I know don’t leave with me and can continue to be used in the future. Even showing someone something as simple as changing the input on the TVs is one of the many things on my list of final to-dos before I leave. But I hope that you are able to remember the impact I left as a good one rather than the things I am forgetting right now.
Even though this letter cannot fully capture the gratitude I have for the journalism program and everyone in it, I hope it conveys at least a small part of what this experience has meant to me. Journalism gave me far more than a title or leadership role—it gave me confidence, friendships, challenges, and a place to grow. As I leave, I only hope I was able to give back even a fraction of what this program gave to me.
Thank you for everything,
Dane McCarley, 2026 Editor-in-Chief
