While producing The Highlighter has been one of the most perpetually challenging projects I have taken on in my life thus far; it has also been the most formative and rewarding thing I have done during my high school career

I, like many other high school students, came into Rocky not knowing what I wanted to do or who I wanted to be. The three years before my senior year began, I felt like a part of a community that endlessly gave to myself and my peers. I came to love what it means to be a Lobo. As I came into my senior year, I decided it was time for me to give back. I joined Link Crew and Lobo Mentors, and I decided to sign up for the RMHS Highlighter.

As many of you may know, after the retirement of Steve Wahlfeldt, The Highlighter got a new advisor, Amy White. With a new advisor came a new direction for the school’s newspaper. A combination of staff suggestion and administration’s requests sent the paper online. I was excited for the opportunity to create more content that could reach more people and would not just get recycled. It was also a chance for the staff to create content that they are passionate about. Our goal was to reach more people with content that they genuinely wanted to see.

That has been what my year has been about. From setting up and learning our new website to picking up any photography event that wasn’t covered to writing and editing, I did everything I could to create the best Highlighter I could for the Rocky community. Through the ups and downs of the year, we have come through with a very successful site with upwards of 250 stories and thousands of views every month.

We also had another goal: the staff environment in previous years was not what we wanted it to be. We wanted to create an open, friendly, and accessible environment both for our own staff and for those who interacted with our publication. Through a process of trial and error, we have build a team of dedicated student journalists who reflect not only the Lobo Way, but the high standards of professionalism which we have for our publication. We moved our room into the middle of the school, and we have t-shirts and press passes for each staff member so they are easily identified among the student body. The goal was to become part of the Lobo community instead of a feature of it, and I would say that The Highlighter is now set up to be a centerpiece of the school next year.

However, the number one goal of The Highlighter, or any publication, is to create quality content for its readers. Through a 350 percent viewership increase and the integration of website into homeroom, I have seen a positive response to our paper this year. I am extremely proud that our publication has made it this far in just nine months, and I am ecstatic to see how The Highlighter develops in the years to come.

I would like to personally thank The Highlighter staff, students, administration, and teachers who have been so supportive this year. The paper would not be where it is today without all of you. If you are at all interested in becoming part of The Highlighter staff, please come talk to Amy White and see what you need to do join. We accept writers, photographers, videographers, and anyone else who is interested in participating. I hope to see The Highlighter grow in the Lobo Community and wish luck to all of those in what is now my alma mater.

Web Editor 2016-2017

Ravyn Cullor