Over the last two years, Orla Maxcy ‘25 and Miranda Shandell ’25 have both founded and successfully run a thriving student newspaper at Abington Friends School, but the beloved editors-in-chief are graduating this spring, leaving leadership in our hands.
The Blue and White has become a strong space for expression of student voice, and we are dedicated to making the newspaper an even more accessible, transparent, and utilized resource for the AFS community.
We recognize that this can not be accomplished without internal and external support. Therefore, with the goal of expansion in mind, Shandell and Maxcy have added several positions to our core team of leadership. These individuals have shown immense skill, stewardship, and dedication, and they are an invaluable asset to the growth and success of The Blue and White.
In addition to the Senior Editors in Chief (Anjali Tremblay ‘26 and Serafina Kubersky ‘26), Junior Editor in Chief Rainy Korein ‘27 will be joining the team, learning leadership skills that will carry into the next few years.
As the new editors-in-chief, we are committed to ensuring that students’ voices are given a platform, collaborating with our expanded staff, and continuously engaging in conversation with the student body.
Next year, we plan to incorporate more visual mediums into the newspaper, such as New York Times-style puzzles, student created cartoons, and infographics. In addition, we hope to provide a platform encouraging students to write consistent columns about topics that interest them.
To support this, Liam Hilliard ‘26 will work alongside writers and editors as the Developmental Editor and Writing Coach, mentoring editors on how to edit articles and holding workshops for writers. Hilliard will be a wonderful resource for the staff, as well as anyone looking to write for an issue.
Over the past year, our school has had an explosion of community events, and the trend is sure to continue in the following years. To encourage participation and coverage, we want to promote journalism as a mode of advertisement for clubs and student-led events. In order to make this goal attainable, Alana Son ‘26 has been appointed Weekly Editor in Chief, editing and publishing timely articles.
To keep the community informed on new articles, leading the Blue and White Social Media is Lauren Washington ‘26 as the Social Media and Outreach Editor. She will keep the community engaged with the Blue and White through social media posts and advertisements.
Communication and transparency with the AFS student body is imperative to have a successful school year for the newspaper. It is crucial now more than ever due to political pressure on journalism and free speech. AFS strives to be an open, accepting, and encouraging place for student voice, and most of the time, it succeeds. However, there are countless conversations and points of view that are silenced, whether that be by members of the student body in social situations or by administrators.
Upholding a school community where members are truly free to broach polarizing topics and share unpopular opinions and ideas requires as many people as possible to fight for that environment. We strongly believe that AFS and The Blue and White often are and can be contradictions to a world of censorship, but we know that as soon as we start taking that for granted, we start losing it.
Now is the time to ensure that those in years to come have the same opportunity to freely share thoughts without fear of erasure. In order to accomplish these goals, we need the full support of our vibrant community.
Therefore, we look to you to help guide our next steps. What do you want to see from the newspaper next year? What do you want to read or write about? Let us know in the comments or reach out! We look forward to hearing your thoughts.
