This article was originally published in Kaleidoscope‘s Spring 2025 print edition. It is being published as a separate online article now for easy access.

Claire Sloniewsky, Thinker

by Oliver Wu, Editor-in-Chief, Princeton University Class of 2029

I, admittedly, did not know much about Claire Sloniewsky before we were announced as co-editors-in-chief of Kaleidoscope last spring. Despite our work on the same newspaper last year, our interactions had largely been contained through the digital mediums of Google Docs and website drafts.

Since beginning work on our Elections edition in August, I’ve come to see Claire as an exceptionally thoughtful person. While developing article ideas for our editions with her or watching her speak on episodes of the Innerscope Podcast, Claire never ceases to bring vision and clarity to her contributions.

The Innerscope Podcast, which Claire created alongside Katherine Kelton and Soraya Masrour, has been an incredible forum for student discussion of important topics. I thoroughly enjoyed watching each episode, and had the honor of guesting on it a couple of times this year. I hope that what Claire has started will inspire future students to foray into different mediums of journalism at Ward Melville, which we’ve already seen this year with sophomore Ariel Bassis’ ‘Ward Melville After Hours’ podcast. The podcast is a testament to Claire’s imagination, her initiative and her determination to bring to fruition what she feels to be missing.

I’ve also been inspired by Claire’s love for reading. Reading books with intention seems to be, increasingly, a lost art. But I regularly see Claire around the school, reading, and her passion for discussing literature is palpable. That love for literature translates into her strong grasp of language and has made her an incisive and reliable leader of Kaleidoscope.

I’ll remember, somewhat fondly, our (extremely) late nights staying up together to finish print editions, ironing out the countless small details and counting down the pages still left to finalize. What Claire has done with Kaleidoscope, and with her other academic and extracurricular accomplishments, is something to be proud of.

I know that, at the University of Southern California and beyond, Claire will bring steadfast integrity and distinctive spirit to everything she involves herself with. Further, with aspirations to enter the publishing industry, I know that Claire will stay close to her values as she makes her impact.

Oliver Wu, Leader

by Claire Sloniewsky, Editor-in-Chief, University of Southern California Class of 2029

I had the privilege of working alongside Oliver Wu for my last year on the Kaleidoscope. Oliver is more than this year’s valedictorian, an incoming freshman at Princeton University or an avid Taylor Swift listener (though he is unapologetically all of those things). Through our late-night calls, joint community interviews and daily layout meetings, I’ve been lucky enough to witness his drive, opinionatedness, and clear journalistic instincts as a co-editor-in-chief and as a friend.

He works without hesitation, making impactful decisions with such ease and confidence. Leading this club with him has been easy, thanks to his ability to always recognize the bigger picture of our paper: What message do we want this edition to send, and what is the perfect way to execute that? Once Oliver has a vision, each edition we create gains an identity and purpose. He is always first to find a solution to our many difficulties as a student-run paper and volunteer time I honestly don’t know how he has. Maintaining a perfect GPA, while simultaneously spearheading extracurriculars like Kaleidoscope and Tri-M is something only Oliver is capable of, yet he is so much more than his résumé.

I’ve gotten to know Oliver as a person through this publication, and I couldn’t be more grateful. He never fails to keep me entertained and engaged, from his outstanding music taste (see: BRAT by Charli xcx) to the compelling news stories he shares via text message. I’ve truly grown as a person because of Oliver, as he showed me what hard work looked like and how to balance a vivid social life with rigorous coursework. It doesn’t matter what student you ask at Ward Melville, Oliver is universally loved and respected. I can only hope that future editor-in-chiefs are able to carry forward even a fraction of his countless contributions and the light he brings to Mr. Oatis’ room each Thursday.

Leaving Ward Melville also means leaving behind the Kaleidoscope, putting our immense hard work and passion into the hands of a new board. With time in high school coming to an end, I am forever grateful to have spent my last year working as a co-editor-in-chief with someone as dedicated, passionate and hardworking as Oliver Wu.

A Farewell Message From the EICs

by Oliver Wu and Claire Sloniewsky, Editors-in-Chief

It’s been a whirlwind year for Kaleidoscope. Through it all, we’ve had the pleasure of working with a dedicated group of board members and have found continual fulfillment in working with, challenging and encouraging staff writers to be the best writers they can be. From our time working with Kaleidoscope, we’ve come away with a clear and urgent message: hold on to the value and possibilities of journalism.

For many students today, their primary source of information is social media. People are exposed to what happens to pop up on their timeline, determined by mysterious algorithms, and rarely seek to learn more beyond that. Social media and other forms of nontraditional media undoubtedly have benefits when it comes to information dissemination, allowing voices traditionally left out of the mainstream to be heard and original sources to be made more freely available.

However, what comes with a social media-dominated news intake is a loss of perspective, as it’s hard to tell what is actually consequential and what is being exaggerated, and the loss of independence when seeking out information. We hope that our peers hold on to their desire and ability to search for information, rather than simply accept what is being shown to them.

That act of actively excavating information is what we find so meaningful about journalism. Kaleidoscope is, ultimately, a small student-run high school publication. Our writers are, like other students, overcommitted and overworked with their many obligations. Despite these limitations, Kaleidoscope’s capacity to produce original journalism this year has been admirable.

Over the summer, we secured interviews with five state and national politicians, asking them detailed questions about a variety of issues, especially those pertinent to students, and offering the community original information to help voters make their decisions. In the Winter and April editions, we told original stories of accomplished fellow students, teachers, local businesses and community developments, from a profile of Kelly Zhou, the founder of local bubble tea chain Yaaas Tea, to an in-depth exploration of teacher perspectives on the digitization of AP exams.

We’re so proud of the Kaleidoscope members who went out of their comfort zone to interview someone they didn’t know, ask insightful questions to further their research and take on difficult articles that required much planning and effort.

Just as writing journalism is an active, rather than passive, act, we hope that consuming news remains that way as well. We hope that people continue to recognize the vital importance of a vibrant, independent media in upholding our democracy — and that journalism can only be made possible with the support of invested readers. Journalism, when it fulfills its mission, holds power to account. Journalists tell the stories of those who may otherwise be overlooked by society. They ask the questions and find the stories that are not obvious, uncovering information for the public good. We hope that our peers grow up to be engaged citizens who make an effort to stay informed.

Major newspapers and other media sources should absolutely have their coverage decisions challenged. Journalists should absolutely have their relationships with those in power questioned and have their biases identified. But, to use the shortcomings of media outlets as a reason to ignore the importance of journalism is dangerously detrimental to the health of our society. A society without a strong, free press is one where fact and fiction blur. It’s one where corruption runs unchecked and people lose the autonomy to make informed decisions.

We, as the departing co-editors-in-chief of Kaleidoscope, hope that you choose to embrace the value of journalism, to participate in the act of journalism and to fulfill your civic obligation to support it.