I find it surprising, me, sitting at my desk writing this piece. Not because of where I am or why I am writing this piece, but because of how impossible it was for me just to write this lede. And that is, perhaps, because I am so incredibly excited to be the one writing this letter and to share what the 2014-2015 staff of The Standard has in store.

Since about the age of six, I’ve been reading The New York Times, The Washington Post and The New Yorker. My journalistic reading repertoire has expanded considerably since then, to say the least. Reading cutting-edge, objective journalism is something much of my life has been centered around, and it is that same passion for delivering the truth in the best manner that The Standard will continue to bring to you. We are serious when we say that we are striving to produce articles that will challenge the very best articles written in any publication.

Over the past year, The Standard has become known both within the school community and in the international high school journalistic community as a newspaper that is able to provide its readers with challenging articles in a beautiful format. The Standard will continue with its hard-hitting journalism, as this issue should show, in every article. Every section, from News to Sports, is providing content that will not just inform you, but challenge your ideas and cause you to rethink them.

As always, the staff seeks submissions from the entire community: We are only a forum if members of the community submit content to the paper (submissions can be sent to The Standard email, the_standard@asl.org or to Opinions Editor Zack Ashley at zack_ashley@asl.org – submissions are not limited to the Opinions section, though).

We are working on truly groundbreaking content for our website (standard.asl.org); this is content that has the potential to revolutionize The Standard’s journalism. We hope to make The Standard’s website a place not just to get scores during ISSTs, but to read articles that we would otherwise be unable to show you in print.

The Standard is in an incredibly exciting place right now. The introduction of two new positions, the Issues Editor and the Senior Editor, represent a progression and maturity of the staff not seen in many years. The selected staff are all talented, young, and passionate: A recipe for success.

The new staff endeavors to build upon the work done this year, and in addition recognizes the huge successes of the previous editorial board. We look forward to continuing in our growth of the past year. We are approaching next year with a new zeal, one that is excited to prove to you all our ethics and excite you with our publication.

What’s most important to the 13 editors in O-329 is that we are able to provide a voice to the voiceless. As journalists, we take pride in the huge amount of responsibility granted to us by you, our reader. An example of the phrase that has come up in our editorial board meetings every day this week: “Students need and deserve to know this.” The articles we write are all about ensuring that you are all able to make informed decisions and stand up for yourselves. We are fighting for every student, every member of the community, for each word we write, each photo we publish, and each page we design.

ian_scoville@asl.org