Sloan Huebner

Beginning the 2018-2019 school year, Sloan Huebner stepped into Scott Harrison’s journalism class, returning for her second and final year as a staff member for The Scroll. As a first year staff member, Sloan Huebner held the primary position of writer and the additional position of copyeditor. Rejoining staff as a second year journalism student, Huebner had begun to transition into bigger responsibilities as the Editor-in-Chief.

“I felt like I had taken on a leadership role, and [Scott] Harrison had had conversations with me about stepping up,” Huebner said. “I remember going in and thinking that I was ready to take on that next step and that was a good next step [following] my leadership journey as well.”

As Huebner’s senior year progressed, she left her role as Editor-in-Chief behind as she started to prepare for her next stop: Princeton University. During Huebner’s senior year at Princeton, she took on the position of the president of the choir and established herself as a leader to her fellow choir students.

“I feel like a lot of the challenges that came up when I was editor of the Scroll also came up when I was president of the choir,” Huebner said. “Learning when to be friends and learning when to take charge, and also learning when other people can handle it and learning when you need to step in and give it your best shot.”

Huebner graduated from Princeton in May, and is now working in Philadelphia at LLR Partners as a Market Development Analyst. She reflects on her time as editor of the Scroll as a learning process that allowed her to expand her skillset and grow as a leader.

“[Leadership is] definitely an intuition you achieve and I’m still working on that,” Huebner said.

Kennedy Ray

When Sloan Huebner’s position as Editor-in-Chief came to an end, she passed the torch to Kennedy Ray. Ray entered her senior year as a third-year journalism student with a strong and developing passion for the paper. Her first year on staff, Ray assumed the role of business manager, entailing management of advertisement sales and transactions. For Ray’s second year, she landed a seat on the editorial board as the Arts and Entertainment section team leader. 

“My first year I had already gotten some sort of leadership and maybe that helped with my confidence but I felt like [becoming editor] was a natural progression because I felt like I really made an effort to be there for everyone and assist with everything,” Ray said.

Ray’s efforts rippled throughout the team as she floated from section to section and group to group, stepping in when needed. Ray felt it was important to stand behind others through each stage of the paper’s next issue.

“When you nurture your team as well and you keep them inspired and you keep their morale going, everyone just kind of does their job,” Ray said.

Ray is now a student at the Los Angeles College of Music in Pasadena, Cali. and will begin her senior year in October. She is set to graduate in March 2024 and is already sharing her artistry with the world. After her year in high school spent as Editor-in-Chief, Ray gained new skills that have allowed her to excel in her daily life.

“I’ve developed the skill to be confrontational and have the difficult conversations,” Ray said. “Because sometimes it’s inevitable.”

Charlie Huebner

Following in his older sister Sloan Huebner’s footsteps, Charlie Huebner took on the role of Editor-in-Chief from behind a screen. During the virtual school year, 2020-2021, Huebner led his team on each issue as they produced electronic copies of the paper. Despite the obstacles the pandemic caused, Huebner took care of business.

“I’m really thankful for the work that we were able to do,” Huebner said. “I mean, nobody gave up, and I was really happy with Edboard that year. We did what we could, writing about things that we thought were important and we still found stories … the worst part about it was the lack of feeling of family.”

Huebner’s interest in the paper sprang from his tendency towards subjects in the humanities sect. Huebner saw The Scroll as an opportunity to expand his communication and writing skills.

“I quickly realized as I got to high school that I was on a more liberal arts track and really interested in writing and not as much the [Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)] track,” Huebner said. “And having an older sister who you look up to and who’s doing things that are really cool and having all these articles she’s writing and research she’s doing … that definitely played a big role.”

Huebner is now a junior and a political science major at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.

Huebner minors in environmental sciences, and is currently studying abroad for his first semester in Venice, Italy to research the environmental atmosphere in Venice and the effects of tourism. Post-grad, Huebner is considering law school.

Katie Lamm

It was Katie Lamm’s third year on staff, but only her second in the classroom. Transitioning into the 2021-2022 school year post-covid, Lamm led the Scroll staff. Lamm’s interest in writing sprouted when she was young, and flourished during her time on staff as she explored journalistic style.

“Ever since I knew we had a newspaper, I knew that it was something I wanted to do,” Lamm said. “My brother is also a writer, he’s also going into journalism, so I’ve always been around that environment so that’s probably why I wanted to join in the first place.”

Each writing cycle, Lamm worked with the managing editor Michelle Le and members of the editorial board to decide the content written and featured in the newspaper. Once the featured stories were chosen, Lamm and her peers chose the arrangement of the layout of the paper.

“Especially senior year, being Editor-in-Chief, [the paper] was the Edboard and I’s baby,” Lamm said. “Each paper was something that we managed and created so I felt like I had a deep connection to it, but I will say that senior year I learned it’s good to be dedicated to something but if something goes wrong or if things aren’t perfect that’s okay but at the end of the day it’s a learning experience.”

Lamm stepped away from her senior year with continuing aspirations for journalism. Currently, Lamm is starting her sophomore year at the University of Missouri as a journalism major and writes for the Arts & Culture section of the student publication, “The Maneater.” She was recently accepted into Missouri’s’ radioshow KCOU where she will be covering music.

“Throughout my time in the Scroll I was very dedicated and I felt a connection [to the paper],” Lamm said. “I took what I was writing seriously because I knew it was something I wanted to do in the future.”