Saying “Farewell” to The Paw Print’s Seniors

The Paw Print began this year with a Coyote Block and a dream. We hadn’t been running as a regular publication for a few years until this year, and it’s important to acknowledge the 12 graduating seniors who made restarting The Paw Print this year possible.

Cecily Hauser–Co-Editor-in-Chief:

Favorite article written: What really happens at the Lenaea Theater Festival

When Cecily Hauser first joined The Paw Print she did not want to be an Editor-in-Chief; in her eyes it was “kind of a terrifying role.” So when Paw Print Advisor Laura Hansen introduced her to Mikaela Resch as her Co-Editor-in-Chief, Hauser thought, “this could be great, or it could be terrible.”

Since then, Resch and Hauser have become great friends and, according to Hauser, it’s been nice because “it’s a really hard role to do on your own.” As an Editor-in-Chief, Hauser has written some amazing articles, helped younger writers develop their writing skills, and has relentlessly corrected writers on their use of Oxford commas.

She has served as an amazing Editor-in-Chief and will be deeply missed by The Paw Print.

Hauser leaves us with her parting advice: “it’s okay to mess up as long as you don’t yell at a kid.”

Mikaela Resch–Co-Editor-in-Chief:

Favorite article written: Get in loser, we’re going to “Mean Girls: The Musical”

As Editor-in-Chief, Mikaela Resch is always managing The Paw Print. She enjoys it because, “I like coordinating people more than I like actually writing.”

Running The Paw Print can be a stressful affair though: “It’s super chaotic and I never know what I’m doing, and I physically lose weight when I’m in Paw Print because I sweat so much.”

Resch still loves it; according to her and Hauser, it’s “the only reason we come to school sometimes. It’s the only thing we look forward to.” As Editor-in-Chief, Mikaela has been a mentor to those around her. She is always willing to help people with their writing and, as she put it, “There’s not a single piece that I haven’t read. I am Paw Print’s number one fan.” Her parting words to The Paw Print staff were, “I want [The Paw Print] to keep getting better and getting more professional and writing better pieces, but I don’t want it to become really serious because I think it’s really fun.”

Siddharth Kohli–Managing Editor/Editor of Sports:

Favorite article written: Holding court at SA: What Drew Gloger taught me about law, politics and civic engagement

Sid Kohli is both the Managing Editor and Sports Editor of The Paw Print, meaning he helps the Editors-in-Chief run the website and he has written an incredible amount of Athlete of the Week pieces. In The Paw Print, Kohli has “been able to develop my writing. I like yapping and I think it’s cool to do it in an organized format.” Kohli has enjoyed being in The Paw Print because “everyone brings their own energy into the room and it comes out in a cool way.” Kohli’s advice to us is this: “Do what you love and be chill because I think the best work happens when you’re not stressed.”

Quinn Mahoney–Editor of News:

Favorite article written: Kevin Christensen: What’s behind those icy blue eyes?

Quinn Mahoney has served as The Paw Print’s Editor of News; he has covered heavy topics and written breaking news articles. Paw Print “taught [him] how to write journalistically. That style, I kind of just write in it now, became my default way of writing.” As an editor, Mahoney reviewed a lot of pieces; according to him, it has “helped me look at my own writing with a more critical eye.” Mahoney leaves us with two pieces of advice: “It’s definitely worth joining and doing. Try to meet your deadlines, because you might have to write a whole article in a night and that kind of sucks. And be nice to Laura because she’ll bring snacks sometimes.”

Sarika Satish–Editor of Opinions:

Favorite article written: Why The AS System Isn’t Working

Our Op-Ed queen, Sarika Satish, found that The Paw Print greatly developed her writing skills and style. In her words, “I’ve definitely felt like my writing has gotten a lot more concise and The Paw Print has made me actually seek out different perspectives in my writing.” Satish has written multiple hard-hitting articles and hasn’t been afraid to question systems in the world around her. If there’s anything Satish has learned, it’s “don’t be afraid of what other people are going to think of what you’re writing. If you want to write on a topic and you want to make a certain point, I don’t think you should necessarily be looking to others to validate it.” Her advice to us is this: “Trust in yourself, your own skills and your own perspective on a certain issue.”

Allison Foster–Editor of Features:

Favorite article written: Grade inflation at SA: a cycle of pressure and misinformation

Allison Foster joined The Paw Print during the spring of her freshman year, before it had a dedicated class or website. At first, “I was nervous about doing it. I didn’t think I could write news articles. I wasn’t super confident in my writing skills and stuff.” But since then she has “become a lot more confident in my ability to come up with an idea, write it, edit it and then publish it.” As Editor of Features, Foster has appreciated working with younger writers: “it’s been really fun to work with them and to get [their writing] to a point that they’re proud of and excited to have published.” Her vision for those younger writers is this: “I really want people to be able to look at The Paw Print and see that they can write about whatever they want. It can be anything.”

Connor Kempiak– Editor of The Buckeye, SA’s Literary Magazine:

Favorite article written: The Buckeye

Connor Kempiak led the Literary Magazine team to victory this year. Together with Anna Hamilton (‘27) and An Ly (‘26), Kempiak was able to reinstate The Buckeye and highlight SA students’ creative writing and visual art. When making it, Kempiak said, “It was really fun to just edit everybody’s pieces because I think that you get to know somebody really well when you read their writing.” Kempiak also learned a lesson from The Paw Print: “when you’re not into the thing you’re writing about, it’s so arduous to actually take the time to write it because you just don’t want to.” So his advice to the writers of The Paw Print is as follows: “I think if there’s something in your life that you’re not enjoying it’s okay to just try and look for a different thing instead of forcing yourself to do it anyways.”

Juliette Coté–Hype Master and Social Media Queen:

Favorite article written: THE SA Ghost Story – The Paw Print

Juliette Coté served as The Paw Print’s Hype Queen, which, according to her, means “to keep everyone kind of interested in it and make it more fun” because “The Paw Print can sometimes feel like an office job.” Indeed, during her time as the Hype Master, she prepared kahoots, writing games, Wordles and more. She would love “for Paw Print to be more involved at either community meetings or do a podcast in the future. I feel like that would get people more drawn in.” Her advice to us is to “write stuff that you’re genuinely passionate about, not just athlete of the week.”

Ashlynn Dexter–Staff Writer:

Favorite article written: I need a NeeDoh

Ashlynn Dexter “definitely didn’t really know how to do it at the beginning when I tried to write my first article, but now I feel much more confident with the different type of structure of writing.” She hopes that next year “as Paw Print continues to become more and more established at Sonoma Academy, the Lit Mag will also become bigger and will be a more robust thing that gets published.” Her advice to new writers is this: “You don’t have to have this profound, perfectly polished piece down on the page when you first think of your idea. Sit and just start putting bullet points, concepts and an outline down, and then see where it goes.”

Natalia Yataco–Staff Writer:

Favorite article written: United by love: the Bad Bunny halftime show

Natalia Yataco’s favorite memories of The Paw Print are of the people around her. During her time at The Paw Print she wrote beautifully worded stories on a lot of different topics; “I’ve written music reviews, beach reviews, analyzed Bad Bunny’s halftime show.” Paw Print pushed Yataco “to get writing in on deadlines and also just push beyond typical writing assignments for school.” Her advice to future and current writers of The Paw Print is this: “See where the writing takes you, and then follow that thread. Don’t fight against it and just try to find a way to incorporate it.”

Elian Diaz-Zepeda–Staff Writer:

Favorite article written: Rebuilding the work: DEI and its shifting culture at Sonoma Academy

Elian Diaz-Zepeda once had an entire conversation with someone he was interviewing and once it was over he looked at his phone and realized, “I never pressed record.” Fortunately he was able to reschedule the interview and thankfully record it. Since then Diaz-Zepeda has grown as an interviewer and a writer. He has learned a lot about journalism including “asking my follow-up questions, diving deep into the topic I’m writing about and making sure I get the most out of an interview.” When asked what he’ll miss the most about The Paw Print, he said, “definitely the people.” One thing The Paw Print taught him was to “stop fearing and just start it.”

Madeleine McKee–Staff Writer:

Favorite article written: The Eating Disorder Culture at SA

The Paw Print was an outlet for Madeleine McKee to make her voice heard. Through her time at The Paw Print, McKee was able to make it her own and it was also a place where she could project the voices of others who didn’t have that opportunity. The Paw Print developed her writing by “writing analytically rather than creatively.” Her advice to writers is as follows: “Your voice matters and it’s important that you share it because you have an amazing, supportive platform to do so.”