Last week marked the annual Teacher Appreciation Week, a week where students, parents, and administrators all come together to thank teachers for all the difficult and tedious work they have done and will continue to do. Teachers have incredible impacts on the lives of students in more than just being a simple educator. Teachers aid us in learning what we want to do when we get older, allow us to flourish in our own fields, and support students through emotional, physical, and social turmoil they may suffer through. Teachers also help students find their different niches, by promoting clubs and sports for students to join and develop into their own. As the moderator of Newspaper and Creative Writing club, Ms. Colon ’16 has allowed all of the students in her club to express what they would like to and also truly extend their writing abilities and grow as the club does. She has worked tirelessly to ensure that everyone in the club is represented equally and that they are able to show their interests through a common ground of writing.
I have been an active member of the club for two years and it was the best decision I could’ve made, especially going into a new school where I was starting over. As a freshman, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the possibilities and trying to find where you belong, however, in my experience, Ms. Colon’s leadership made it easy to find my own, while being in the same club as many others who share different interests than I have. Ms. Colon has always treated me with nothing but kindness and respect, while also encouraging me to become a better writer and pushing me to grow in my position in Newspaper and Creative Writing. The close-knit environment she provides for her clubs allowed me to develop close relationships with people in the clubs and the extensive memories and good times I have experienced in the clubs make me more excited to go back each week. I am so appreciative for Ms. Colon for allowing me to grow as a writer, while also allowing me to have fun in the clubs. Her leadership allowed me to expand my creativity beyond the limits I thought it could reach and her support of all of her students allowed me to not only grow as a writer, but also as a person.
Ms. Colon encourages people to join the club, no matter how old they are and no matter what their creative outlets are. I asked a new member, Jude Frank ’27, about her experience in the Newspaper Club as a sophomore in high school.
Q1: What about Ms. Colon’s English class inspired you to join Newspaper Club?
Jude responded, “Ms. Colon’s class inspired me to join the newspaper club because it made me excited about writing. Ms. Colon has so much enthusiasm for writing, and it’s catching. Writing for newspaper is fun. We share ideas and learn about current events as we research different topics. We work together to produce something we can be proud of”.
Q2: How has Ms. Colon’s class allowed you to thrive in and out of Newspaper Club?
Jude stated, “Being a part of Ms. Colon’s class has allowed me to thrive in and out of the classroom because she has taught us how to be better writers. She explains how to make our writing interesting, our points to be displayed effectively, and helps us in staying on task. She motivates us to read and write with a more critical eye and with more confidence”.
Additionally, I asked our club president, Martyna Prochniewicz ’25, who has been an active and influential member of the club for years, her experiences in the Newspaper and Creative Writing club and overall relationship with Ms. Colon over the years.
Q1: What about Ms. Colon made you originally want to join the club?
Martyna stated, “I was already in Creative Writing club when Ms. Colon took over when the original moderator left, and Ms. Colon was really nice and a fun person to be around, which inspired me to join Newspaper”.
Q2: As the president of the club, how has Ms. Colon helped you grow over the years?
Martyna responded, “Ms. Colon helped me grow over the years by being sort of my “school big sister”, being someone I could go to with anything I needed, and someone who helped me open up and be myself in a bigger group like Newspaper club”.
Q3: Finally, what was your favorite memory being in the club?
Martyna stated, “My favorite memory is probably when we all talk about random life updates with each other but I also like the days where we update our pictures together at the start of the year because it’s fun and has light vibes to start off a great year of writing!”.
Thank you Ms. Colon, we all appreciate you so much!
