The 2025-2026 year has officially come to an end for the Sylvan Hills High School Seniors, and for some, that means excitement and celebration for no more school work and no more classes. Unfortunately for me, that is not the case.

Yes, I am excited for no more classes from 8 a. m. to 4 p. m. 5 days a week, but what I am not celebrating is that I have to say goodbye to the Hillside Banner.

I have been the Managing Editor for 3 years. I started my sophomore year of high school and now as I approach the end of my senior year, my time in this position is up.

Sylvan Hills will always hold a special place in my heart. It is where I fell in love with writing and journalism. For the years before I started high school, I never wanted writing to be what I did as a career. First I wanted to be an engineer, then I moved on to wanting to be a lawyer, and at some point those two somehow combined to my wanting to become a legal engineer. However, at the start of my sophomore year, I was put into the Journalism class as a complete accident.

I didn’t want to be in it, but I had a friend in there and decided to stick it out. I started doing the writing assignments, and eventually started to love it. Eight weeks later, Mr. Scroggins, our Journalism/Newspaper/Yearbook teacher, asked me if I wanted to take the role of Editor. I was thrilled and immediately started telling everyone about it. Ever since then it has become my whole world.

Throughout my time working on the Newspaper, I have learned many things: creativity, patience, forgiveness, etc. I will forever be grateful for the lessons I have learned and the skills that I have achieved. Studying formats and journalism rules doesn’t seem so silly anymore, now it’s my future. Watching other staff find their specialties and seeing them grow as writers has been one of my favorite things about being the editor. It warms my heart knowing that they are finding their passions alongside me.

Some of my favorite memories were created with the staff, including the times of walking into class to someone immediately telling me “I promise I’ll get that story out soon!” and “Please don’t rip this article to shreds…” But I promise, everything I did was out of love; I only want the best for them and I know what they are capable of. Every one of the staff of this newspaper is extremely talented and I know they will go far. I am immensely proud of all of them.

I never would have thought that writing would be what I ended up doing. I have always loved books and looking through news articles with my grandparents, but I never saw it as a career. Not until Mr. Scroggins gave me this opportunity. I owe all of this to him, because without him I wouldn’t have discovered my passion for writing and editing. He has guided me through learning AP format, proper ways to conduct research and interviews, photography, and so much more. I learned so much from him, and I would never have accomplished as much as I have without him. I wouldn’t be going to UALR to study English (creative/technical writing) and Journalism while working on their newspaper and literary magazine, I wouldn’t have gotten my article over the history of Sylvan Hills recognized by the city of Sherwood, and I wouldn’t have built so many relationships with staff and bigger newspapers. Mr. Scroggins is the reason I am so successful in this field, and he definitely doesn’t get as much recognition as he deserves. I hope there are many more students to come that get to learn from him and discover their passion for journalism just like I did.

Graduating from Sylvan Hills is going to be one of the biggest accomplishments I have ever achieved. I love this school, and I am sad to leave it behind. I will never forget the memories I have created and the friendships I have formed. Thank you to everyone who has made an impact on my life. I look forward to seeing what comes in the future, but I will definitely miss the past.

I cannot begin to describe how much I will miss writing for the Banner, it has become one of my most favorite things, and I hate to say goodbye. However, I know there are so many wonderful opportunities that are in store. Thank you to everyone who has supported this newspaper, I appreciate every single one of you.

Good luck to every 2026 senior. You all will accomplish great things. Congratulations to us all, we have officially made it.