Dear readers,
This year feels like it has passed by in the blink of an eye. Our time as editors-in-chief has gone by too quickly, but we’re proud of the wonderful memories we’ve made and the tremendous successes the Spoke family has achieved this past year.
From our initial meet-and-greet party in August to our senior speeches this April, we’ve gotten to see our 15 new Spokies grow from rookie reporters to AP Style gods. Our returning staffers and editors have grown leaps and bounds as well, pushing themselves out of their comfort zones to cover local protests and national politics. As for us, we’ve strengthened friendships, burned through liters of caffeinated beverages and put pen to paper to push out each new issue, upholding The Spoke’s tradition of strong journalism throughout our paper’s 75th year.
All our hard work has garnered state and national recognition, from having three 2025 Pennsylvania School Press Association state champions and 22 Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Keystone Media Awards to earning seventh for Best in Show Newspaper at the Journalism Education Association’s fall convention and six winners of Quill and Scroll awards. Our amazing staff works hard each and every day to make The Spoke into the paper you hold in your hands today, and we could not be prouder.
Beyond the plaques and certificates, it’s your continued support that we truly value. During our tenure, we’ve made an effort to focus on community perspectives and issues that matter to you, our readership. And while our goal is always to report on and share the news, we’ve often found ourselves also learning something new along the way. From talking with administrators at late-night school board meetings to sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Eagles fans on 6 a.m. train rides to Philly, The Spoke has allowed us to step into the worlds of people we likely never would have met otherwise.
We’re confident that incoming Editors-in-Chief Lily Chen and Rowan Chetty will continue to lead The Spoke and its 76th editorial board into the future while honoring the legacy of the newspaper that our decades of alumni have built it to be today. One last time, thank you to everybody who made this incredible four-year journey possible. To the readers who made this all happen, we would not be here without you. To the advertisers who supported us, your belief in our paper is what made this all possible. To the Spokies, both past and present, who have worked alongside us, thank you for believing in us.
It’s been an honor,
Aren Framil and Howard Kim
Aren Framil can be reached at [email protected].
Howard Kim can be reached at [email protected].
