To the faithful readers of the Free Press (and also to those of you who have never opened the school newspaper until today):

Many of you have probably noticed that Page 7 of this newspaper no longer stars Miranda Davis’s bright hair, brighter smile and even brighter ideas, nor does it capture the perfectly Photoshopped images of Ryan Loecker’s brief stints as a police officer, a fortune teller and a water aerobics junkie. Our senior staffers have logged off of their newsroom computers for the last time and are currently basking in the 100-degree Kansas sunlight of summer freedom.

As barren as the newsroom seems now that we’re down 11 wonderful senior editors, reporters, photographers and designers, the 2012-2013 Free Press staff members are already clicking their pens to kick off the coming school year.

The unbeatable duo of Hannah Moran and Sarah Whipple will be taking the offices of copy editor and design editor, respectively, and Sam Boatright and I will be stepping into Miranda and Ryan’s spots as next year’s co-editors in chief. We’ll try to keep you entertained.

Our first order of business for this issue was to redesign the paper, one step at a time. In brief, we have expanded our news section to offer a more in-depth look at events in the school, community and nation, including a rapid-fire news brief section for those days when you want to impress your social studies teacher with your knowledge of current events. We’re also working to give Firebird athletes a bigger spotlight on Page 8, and we aim to continuously keep readers up to date on recent scores and upcoming games.

As always, our website (fsfreepressonline.com) will offer additional content in the coming school year, so be sure to check it out and follow us on Twitter to stay in the green and silver loop. If we have another #bombthreatthursday, you’ll be the first to know–after us, of course.

Next year, this little box of space I’m currently filling up with words will be home to a column of old-fashioned letter-writing. So, to all of the good samaritans out there (and also to the parking spot thieves, the bathroom stall artists and the people who monopolize the microwaves for eight minutes to heat multiple Lean Cuisines): we’ll be in touch.

Of course, writing a letter involves using the words “I” and “you” with reckless abandon, so this column of mine will inevitably violate Journalistic Rule #2: Never write in first or second person. Whoops.

(In case you’re wondering, Journalistic Rule #1 is, “Always bring something to write on in case your recording device dies in the middle of an interview.” Unsurprisingly, that’s also one I’ve broken in the past, and karma won’t let me forget it.)

With so many bent and broken rules in my printed history, it’s a bit of a mystery as to how I came to write this column as a co-editor in chief. Perhaps one of my future columns can delve into that labyrinth.

Or perhaps not. Twists and turns are what make newspaper a nonstop thrill ride.

Thanks for reading, Free State, and I’ll see you next August.

Katie