Archive - 2015

I would like to begin by admitting that I have dreaded writing this Editor’s Note, not out of laziness but out of nostalgia. I began my experience with Speechless my sophomore year through the creative writing class. Since then, I have witnessed the program expand from a physical book to an online journal. This year, with an updated website, the works of our talented students have become even more accessible to the community. It is my hope that next year our legacy of creativity will continue to grow and inspire more impressionable students, as it did for me. With only a few weeks left in school and only a few months in this town before I leave and go off on some new adventure, saying goodbye to Speechless is becoming more and more impossible. Writing this final piece for Speechless makes it all the more clear that my time as Editor and staff member is quickly coming to an end. However, I retain a smile because I know that Speechless will last for years to come.

And now, without hesitation, I must acknowledge and thank those who are essential to Speechless. When I was in Elementary school, just beginning to learn the alphabet, much less grammatical standards, Ms. Gilchrist, in her infinite wisdom, founded Speechless. Since then, she and Ms. Dixon, another amazing English teacher, have taught me to write not for the audience but for myself. To not honor Coach Cutler would be a travesty as he has taught me that writing is much more than Times New Roman, size-twelve, double-spaced words. I must also thank my fellow staff members and Editors throughout the years who truly understand the importance and sometimes hectic world of Speechless. Here, I must give a particular mention to our “Web Master” Jonathan Duncan who has not only remodeled the face of Speechless, but has also kept me “in line.” I must wholeheartedly thank and praise the contributors to Speechless for bravely, and through their own volition, creating and submitting these terrific works. And finally, I must thank you, our readers and audience for giving us an outlet for our voices. For though we may simply be teenagers with angst, we have something to say.

In the hopes that this year will do our name justice,

Erin Zwick