Dear readers, writers, and staff,

It has truly been an honor to work as an editor for the CHS Communiqué. Being surrounded by incredibly talented writers and reporters was genuinely inspiring. I feel as though this year the newspaper really became something important to the student body and the greater Cresskill community. I am so incredibly proud of the work everyone has done over the course of this school year. Publication did not die down during changeling times and I am certain this spirit of perseverance will last for many years to follow. I feel confident that the Communiqué is in good hands for next year and beyond, as our staff is fully equipped with the tools to continue this publication. Thank you to everyone who has helped and supported The Communiqué this year. 

Sincerely,
Lilliana Silver

Co-Managing Editor

I think it’s quite fair to say that, out of all of the ways this academic year could have ended, finishing it out from home in the midst of a global pandemic was probably one of the least anticipated. Nevertheless, I am more than proud of my fellow peers and writers for all of the things that we have been able to accomplish this year. This year, I genuinely think that The Communiqué was able to foster such a sense of community that made many things possible that I couldn’t have even fathomed last year- The Communiqué has started to become a vital institution to the very core of the Cresskill community and I am so happy to have been a part of it for the past few years. The collaborative space – and the people a part of it- that pushed me to become a better journalist, a writer, and a person is something that I will be deeply indebted to for long after I leave high school. 

I’d like to thank my fellow editors, writers for The Communiqué, the administration and community that has continued to support us and our endeavors, and especially Mrs. Krapels for working alongside us in order to make something truly special that will hopefully outlast all of us in its legacy. 

Sincerely,

Madison Bigelow

Blogs & Culture Editor

If you had told my junior self that my work would be featured on a major media outlet and be on the editorial board of The Communique, I would’ve looked at you like you’re out of your mind, my eyes agape with disbelief. (Okay, you probably wouldn’t be able to see my eyes, because I never washed my eyeglasses). I remember that I’d fantasize about writing, A LOT, during second period algebra (sorry, Mrs. DePeri), but I didn’t know what opportunities I’d have. Above all, I knew it was just that — a fantasy, a pipe dream of a frustrated, brain-fried junior.

But all of these things happened: right before my junior year ended, I won the New York Times student editorial contest, and when I came back to school, I found myself filling the shoes of a co-managerial editor. Becoming an editor was a turning point. I realized that editing came naturally to me. I loved learning about the Cresskill community’s brilliant ideas and colorful feelings, and it has been an honor to help articulate them. 

Editing made me feel accomplished, and opened my eyes to a feasible career prospect. I knew that it wasn’t realistic to make a living out of blogging and selling books, but I still wanted to do something writing-related, and I have never considered the possibility of becoming an editor until I had this hands-on experience.

I’d like to thank Mrs. Krapels for her guidance and The Communique for engaging me in insightful dialogues. Thank you for all the opportunities. 

Sincerely,

Asaka Park

Co-Managing Editor

To our readers, writers, and friends—

We’re closing off the year in unfamiliar ways: from afar, at our laptops, loopy with cabin fever. From afar, this is a sad spectacle. We are, after all, seniors—in the primes of our high school careers. What is customarily a celebratory time is now a precarious time.

We have accepted postponements and wholesale cancellations of the very events we’d anticipated would offer us the kind of closure that ought to be ours by the end of four years. But it would be hardly true to say we haven’t lived to the fullest. Over the past months, we’ve published voices that are sonorous and at times dissenting. We’ve reported on age-old sports records far surpassed this year. We’ve chronicled student-led initiatives to combat anti-Semitism. Most recently, in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, and against racial prejudice and police brutality, students have taken to the streets. We have been lucky to have had our writers walking in their midst, documenting a great upheaval. We are not missing from Cresskill’s history, but rather writing it anew.

While it saddens me to be leaving The Communiqué, I am certain that it is in good hands and excited for all that is to come. To Mrs. Krapels, our advisor and our mentor, I owe the greatest gratitude. We would be nowhere if not for her. To our writers, thank you for all of the heart you’ve put into crafting stories that ring true to The Communiqué’s vision. We’re truly honored to have the opportunity to give your stories a home. To our readers, thank you for your support and for a platform on which we could make our voices heard.

Thank you, please take care, and I hope to see you again.

Sincerely,

Isabella Jiang

Editor-in-Chief