The Spokesman kicked off its 56th volume with an all-staff team retreat on January 11, welcoming its three new Editors-in-Chief: Anjali Bhatia, Madison Sings, and Katie Jain, along with new staff members. 

It was great to see students showing up on a Saturday morning, despite the cold weather, ready to get started with the paper. This year, the online and print editions separated into two different groups and focused on their separate perspectives and requirements. The three new EICs prepared useful instructions and laid clear rules and expectations for the members of the team. “I think the retreat is going pretty well, and the team seems really dedicated and enthusiastic,” emphasized Katie Jain ’21, Online EIC. 

When asked what they would like to improve with the retreat, the answers were unanimous; “I wish that more people had shown up,” stressed Dr. Michael Friedman, teacher advisor of the Spokesman. To remedy this, Jain suggested that “ in the future, we will announce the date earlier [although]we couldn’t really do that this year.” According to the other  teacher advisor, Ms. Amy Matlack, the Spokesman had an early start this year, as the retreat happened the first week after winter break. 

Around 25 Spokesman members attended, and the retreat was filled with lively conversations regarding the new plans for the year. “We have some changes that we want to put in:we want to add in a fashion/humor column to the print edition, and we want the Online to publish more regularly;I am excited for the upcoming year. I think that it can be really great,” said Jain. 

The Spokesman staff members are working hard to present new and interesting content for the PDS community. The goal of the online edition this year is to publish more regularly and present more time-relevant articles. The groups not only discussed instructions and writing techniques but also brainstormed ideas for up-coming article topics. At last, the whole team designed their very own Spokesman Volume 56 sweatshirt, which can be purchased soon by Spokesman members.