Hi! My name is Abbey Malbon and I graduated from Metea Valley High School in 2019, and I’ve since earned my BSW from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and my MSW with a focus in policy and political social work from the University of Michigan. Since my time as Spotlight Editor at The Stampede, I’ve focused a lot on academic writing, most recently publishing a federal report for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights analyzing the civil rights implications of fair housing in Pennsylvania. I’ve spent a lot of time throughout my higher education working as a research assistant writing memorandums, policy briefs, and white pages for city government. I’m excited to share how the skills that I learned in Mr. Page’s class still benefit my writing all these years later!

Darby is a Seattle-based playwright, librettist, dramaturg, director, and teaching artist. Her work has been seen onstage at Seattle Opera, UW School of Drama Mainstage, Horizon Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre Drama School, The Shattered Glass Project, Aspire Repertory Theatre, The Academy of Children’s Theatre, and more. Some of her pieces (including plays, a short story, and a poem) have been published in print anthologies and online literary magazines. She received her degree in theatre with a minor in political science from the University of Washington, and she is an alumni of Seattle Opera’s Creation Lab, where she worked as a librettist to create two new short operas with composers. She is also a winner of Horizon Theatre’s New South Young Playwrights Contest and a participant in their New Playwrights Festival. Darby combines her passions for writing and theatre as a teaching artist at Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Seattle Opera, where she writes new curriculum as well as new plays and teaches to students all around Seattle. 

Cara graduated from Metea in 2020 and is currently attending  Central Michigan University, where she is working towards a degree in Secondary Education and Teaching. She is the self-published author of In Place of Dreams and currently works as a College Writing Center Consultant. 

Hi! My name is Zainie! I'll be graduating soon from the University of Illinois after studying Journalism with concentrations in Political Science and Communications! During college, I've had the chance to work at a couple of student newspapers as well as the local public radio station, W-ILL/Illinois Newsroom. I've dipped my toes in a couple of different kinds of journalism, but at the end of the day, I think I'm an old-fashioned words-on-paper girl. 

A 2023 Metea grad, Reki is a poet and the grade level winner in the 2023 Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards. They are currently attending University of Illinois Chicago.