LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
My name is Jaredan Levin and I am the editor-in-chief of The Samohi for the upcoming school year. I am very excited about the newspaper this year, especially because we have a great staff of smart, capable people coming from all different walks of life on campus, including some who have done internships with local newspapers, journalism programs and even one who was featured prominently in the New York Times Magazine. Each and every one of them bring talent and a sense of vitality to the newsroom that I am ecstatic to be a part of. You will see us out and about during school and at events and I urge you to smile and say hello if you see one of us. The purpose of our paper is not merely to report the news, but also to reflect our entire campus within every one of our articles. Our goal is to represent Samo the right way so that it is interesting for you, the reader, to understand what is going on here and in our local community. Santa Monica is a world-renowned tourist destination with a population of 90,000 and Samo is within the perfect realm to experience L.A. culture, entertainment and culinary outings. Our school alone now has a population of 3,500, reflecting the progressive and expanding community we have here in Santa Monica, so it is now more important than ever to stay connected with what’s going on around campus. Personally, I am an athlete and sports fan but also a consistent appreciator of the arts. I am consistently blown away by the amazing wealth and breadth of talent our school produces, whether in athletics, music or another art form. There is so much going on and to follow and that’s why our staff of 33 students is constantly working hard to bring new, interesting issues to your attention, relevant and up-to-date articles and keeping the news vital and alive. But to do our job well, we need to accurately depict the voice of the paper, which is you. My hope is that all of you participate in polls, surveys and interviews as your opinion, quotes and perspectives are the substance of what we do here at The Samohi. We would love for you to even contribute an article or art if you feel the passion to do so, as well as providing my staff and me with comments, suggestions and feedback so that we can improve our skills to harness that our population of readers wants in their newspaper. We want to create an environment in which each and every student at Samo reads the newspaper and forms an interest in it. In addition, our back page has become a place in the paper for student works. Contribute art, written works, photos, pictures of creations and non-2D art so we are able to harness the massive amount of creativity that resides here. There are other ways to get involved too. Your family and/or relatives can subscribe to the paper for mail delivery for the whole year and if you or your family have a business that would like to advertise in the paper, we would welcome that as we are an independent non-profit, not a district or school-funded entity. In order to follow us more closely, visit our website, thesamohi.com, for exclusive content. Follow us @thesamohi on Twitter and Instagram, add thesamohi on Snapchat and like “The Samohi” on Facebook. I also hope that you will join us in extending a warm welcome to our new principal, Dr. Antonio Shelton, as well as the class of 2020. I am feeling giddy to publish each and every issue this year and I hope you will join in on that excitement by reading and contributing. My door is always open if you want to talk with me about anything and I hope to make friends with as many of you as I can. And as each day brings me closer to the end of my senior year and my time at Samo, I am honored to spearhead a wonderful staff of dedicated journalists in order to honor the school that will forever have a home in my heart. In closing, I would like to thank in advance my fabulous editorial staff for their leadership, creativity and dedication this year. The Samohi cannot be produced without them! Thank you,
Jaredan LevinEditor-in-Chief