In one of my attempts this week to work towards getting another Distinguished Site badge, I submitted a few of our new articles to Best of SNO with no expectation that any would actually be selected. I submitted a few last year and they were all rejected. That's why, a few hours later, I was so pleasantly surprised to see a green "accepted" notification next to one of my recent articles!
This summer I participated in a voluntary discussion group aimed towards teaching participants how to be "antiracist" — that is, how to become more open-minded and actively fight against racism. Inspired by current events and the reignition of the Black Lives Matter movement, a fellow student and two faculty members organized the discussion group and received startling results, as more than fifty members of the school community joined and made their vision a reality. After doing research and participating in the group myself, I wanted to do more and felt that this was an important initiative that should be recognized in The Raider Voice. I interviewed the three founders as well as a friend who participated over Zoom, and suddenly I had a 900-word article (my longest yet) on the website.
Writing about the discussion group made me realize the importance of recognizing current events in The Raider Voice, especially if they can be tied into a school context. Instead of ignoring these world problems that are impacting our own lives and spending most of my time on easy assignments, I should try more often to challenge myself and report on more difficult topics, like racism and what people in my community are doing to combat it. I'm looking forward to writing more and to working on getting my staff and I two more Best of SNOs!