After all they have given for the McHenry Messenger, it is now time for the seniors to focus on their futures, outside of the walls of MCHS.
There are eight seniors of the 2026 Messenger staff, and each of them have made significant changes to the class and helped to make it the publication that it is today.
These seniors have learned lessons during their time that apply both in and out of the news room.
Why they joined
The seniors who have given time to the Messenger have different reasons behind joining, and staying.
One of the common reasons students joined the Messenger is because of the newspaper instructor, and the opportunities.
“I wasn’t going to join newspaper after my freshman year,” Chief Copy Editor, Maggie Demski shared, “but then, I wanted to go to the ghost hunt, so I asked Erbach if I could go, and he said ‘yeah, if you join newspaper,’ so then that day, I went to my counselor and asked to add newspaper to my schedule.”
“Freshman year,” Lilly Koscher said, “I had Dane] Erbach for English one look … and then I took Intro to Journalism that same year because I liked having Erbach as a teacher so much.”
Lily credits her joining, and staying in journalism to Erbach’s style of teaching, and the way he cares about his students.
Other seniors, however, credit their joining to other reasons.
“So I had a ‘Gilmore Girls’ phase in middle school,” said Editor in Chief, Michaleana Sotka, “I thought I was Rory … I thought I was going to Yale, so that’s why I joined journalism.”
Other seniors, such as Elijah Latronica, joined the newspaper to try a new way of writing that differed from essays, poems and other things that are learned in English classes.
No matter the reason behind joining, students have learned lessons that extend in and outside of the newsroom.
Lessons learned
The lessons these seniors have learned extend farther than grammar skills, or how to write in AP style, they have been able to grow their personalities and skills that will help them all their lives.
“I feel like I’ve learned a lot of communication lessons,” said Leslie Valle. “I’ve never really communicated with people in my classroom … I’ve always kind of stayed in my own bubble … but I’ve gotten so much more comfortable with talking to everybody around me.”
“I (realized) how important our student newspaper is,” said Print Managing Editor, Aika Vila, “… it made me realize that I’m really good at thinking of questions on the spot … it made me realize how many opportunities I can have in the journalism field, because at first, I didn’t know much about journalism.”
“I learned how to be a good leader,” Demski added, “I learned how to be an effective leader … and still be nice about it and very professional.”
“I definitely got more comfortable with talking to people,” said Social Media Manager, Lena Curfman, “it kind of gave me more confidence to just ask about things.”
The lessons learned from being in the Messenger will help these seniors as they leave MCHS and enter their next chapter
Hopes for the future
Since it is time to pass the the torch to the next group of Messenger writers, seniors share their hopes for the future of the McHenry Messenger
“It’s already very successful,” Curfman added, “I hope more people join because it definitely is a smaller staff … I think that people here are doing really great things, and I think if we advertise the class more, then other people can find a love for it, like everyone else does here.”
“I hope that people read our stories,” Villa said, “… and appreciate the things that we do, because nobody really knows how hard a lot of us work when it come to … writing stories and following certain rules that we have to do, while also trying to not get in trouble with the school.”
“I hope we win more awards,” said Latronica, “and that with the new cycles of writers, they (students) want to write more of the difficult stories … and use the other big stories, like the sexual assault story as motivation to keep writing big stories.”
“I hope we get more kids,” said Grace Bellavia, the Messenger’s Arts and Entertainment editor, “because I feel like from last year, and years before there have been so many, and now there are not a lot of kids in the class.”
Changes for the future, like more awards and members, are important, but there are also things about the Messenger that seniors how stay the same after they leave.
“I really hope that it keeps staying how it is in [here],” Valle added, “because it’s always really positive in there … and I hope everybody stays together and keeps their connections.”
Whether they were placed in this class because they needed an extra English credit, or wanted to be Rory Gilmore, these seniors have impacted the McHenry Messenger in many ways, and their impacts will not be forgotten.