Dear Green Pride Staff, 

    Though it has indeed been a crazy year with the early closing of schools, I am extremely proud and impressed in what we have continued to accomplish. It is not easy to continue doing our work, especially not at a particularly high quality, when we are not at school and have less motivation to finish out our school year. Yet despite that, we have gone above and beyond in producing stories and continuing to connect with the student body.

    In times like these, which is nothing like we’ve ever experienced before, that connection with others matters. Though we were suddenly quarantined in our homes and lost physical connection with others which we otherwise would have had, The Green Pride was presented with a unique opportunity. We could have said “Never mind, it’ll be difficult to conduct interviews, and we can’t send out monthly print issues.” Yet instead, we refused to stop.

    And that is the amazing power of journalism. Even when it seems that the rest of the world has stopped, we grasp onto others and what we hear and learn from others. We had an opportunity to continue to share the lives, experiences and feelings of De Soto High School students, and we took it. Despite the difficulties, we used Zoom to conduct interviews and continuously updated The Green Pride website. We made sure the DHS community was still being heard and students were able to share  their struggles. We let the optimism of students spread to others. That is extremely valuable.

    Because of all this, I am very proud of what we have accomplished. 

    I can wholeheartedly say that I will miss being on the The Green Pride staff. It gave me a unique opportunity to connect with others, both those on our staff and not. Take advantage of the fact that you are able to do really amazing things with journalism. I know that sometimes your web stories may seem tedious, but you are still presented with the opportunity to do great things. There are students and community members wanting their voices to be heard in so many issues, and you are given the opportunity to allow them that. 

    Thank you for so many memories and teaching me so much about what it means to be a journalist. We, as journalists, have the power to accomplish big things. So, next time you’re brainstorming for your next story, please don’t forget it.

Thank you,

Erin Pickert, Feature Editor (for the last time)