I thought it would be nice to end this Advocate year with a reflection. This is especially important to me because next year I won’t be a reporter for the middle school Advocate staff. I will be at the Lisbon High School. So many great experiences have happened this year. So much has been covered by the staff for student council, sports, and personal issues. It has been such a successful year for many of our members and our Advisor, Mrs. Monica Millhime. Last year, by the end of the year, there were six on our staff. This year our staff continued to grow throughout the year.

To be an Advocate reporter one needs a certain degree of dedication. You have to be committed to making a great story people will read.

Adam Thebeau and I are senior staff members. We have been on the Advocate staff since we started school at PWS. It has been an amazing experience for both of us to see the new staff join not knowing what to expect of their articles. When stories are discussed at meetings we critique each other. It is good to get all the input from peers. It’s not just the writer that has to like the stories but the readers too. To be perfectly honest, I believe with all my heart that this year’s stories have been nothing but the best! Everyone is growing so much. I see it in myself. My first article this year was really small, consisting of a couple of paragraphs. As the year progressed, I made the cover with my Diabetes article. When I shared the article with our Advocate staff, it brought them to tears. The article on the Washington D.C trip by Adam Thebeau also ran on the cover of Advocate and got people interested in the Lisbon Music Program. What an accomplishment for the Sugg staff!

I’d like to thank the Advocate staff at Sugg for making this year such a success! Also I’d like to thank my Advisor, Mrs. Millhime, for her support. If it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t be the writer I am today. She has been a true inspiration to all of the staff. My friends at school have been really supportive of my writing too so I’d like to thank them. And, last but for certain not least, I’d like to thank Leo Baillargeon, the Academic Advocate Editor for the Sun Journal. Thank you, Mr. Baillargeon, for giving students an opportunity to explore writing. Thank you for continuing to give young people a voice in this hectic society.