After weeks of searching through Hi’s Eye archives, rummaging through several yearbooks, and joining Facebook reunion groups, we have cultivated a scrapbook of what came out to be some of the notable events during WHS’ journalism history. Through our research, we have reflected on the evolution of Hi’s Eye and how, as time went on, the staff became more comfortable reporting on social change, not just local events. Jump into the time machine with us, as we explore the different experiences of past Hi’s Eye and Optic staff and how they evolved with the times. 

The Beginning of Optic

The first year of Optic Magazine, in 2020, was a remarkable journey, according to the magazine’s inaugural Editor-in-Chief Jacob Wendler. Optic was born out of a need to accommodate growing student interest in journalism. 

As a creative-minded student who enjoyed long-form writing and magazine-style journalism, Wendler realized that Hi’s Eye couldn’t accommodate all of his interests.

With support from Advisor Shawn McDonald, Wendler put together a team of WHS students and launched Optic Magazine — which quickly became a “great creative outlet” during the COVID-19 pandemic. Launching the magazine during the pandemic, Wendler and his team faced unique challenges. Early stages of Optic were developed over Zoom, which Wendler described as a “blessing and a curse” — remote work was difficult, but offered more flexibility.

One of Wendler’s most memorable moments was an initial meeting where the team brainstormed Optic‘s logo, name and style.

Leading Optic during this time solidified Wendler’s passion for journalism. Originally planning to attend Washington University, his experience with Optic inspired him to apply to Northwestern University for its journalism program. Today, he serves as editor-in-chief of Northwestern’s newspaper, editing up to 70 articles a week. He credits much of his success to the practical skills he gained at Optic, such as using Adobe InDesign and managing a newsroom.

As Wendler reflects on his journey, he emphasizes the significance of the creative freedom that Optic provided, noting, “It was a place where we could explore our own voices and not just follow a strict formula.” 

The legacy of Optic continues to thrive, inspiring new generations of student journalists to embrace their creativity and passion, much like Wendler did during his formative years.

Navigating Loss at WHS

The 2019 Hi’s Eye staff faced unity through loss after reporting on the two tragic deaths that year, both their principal and a classmate.

 The first week of school had highs and lows. The journalism program gained a new advisor, Shawn McDonald, who quickly learned how to handle the challenges of running a school publication with the loss of classmate Carthoris “Carter” Uziel. Covering the suicide of a former classmate was a delicate situation and writers Natalie Becker and Fiona Gillen’s priority was to capture Uziel’s personality. “We wanted to do a story that paid respect to Carter,” said Gillen. “It was very hard to approach. We knew legal action was being taken with the administration and wanted to make sure we were being respectful.” 

The class dedicated the entire front page of their first edition to Uziel, but what the class didn’t know is that this would not be the only tragedy they faced that year. 

Beloved WHS Principal Dr. Derrick Nelson died April 19, 2019 during a procedure to donate stem cells to a young boy in France. For many WHS students, this was their first encounter with death and grief. “I couldn’t understand that someone I saw just a month before walking his daughter to swim practice could be gone,” said former Editor-in-Chief Kayla Butera. 

The news was a shock to everyone. “I remember we found out on a Tuesday and had 24 hours to get it to the printer,” said former Editor-in-Chief Alex Sumas. 

The staff “pulled an all-nighter” not leaving the Room 111 until 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday night. The community rallied around the staff as they worked tirelessly to create a meaningful tribute to Dr. Nelson. Writers were allowed to skip classes all day to work on the issue and the printer granted a later deadline.

“I remember that small arguments in the newsroom became a big deal because of all the heavy emotions we were experiencing,” said Gillen. 

“I think we all had to take turns going on walks and crying,” said Sumas. 

Despite the challenges the school year presented, the class of 2019 thinks of each other not as former classmates but as family. “We were a tight-knit group,” said former Editor-in-Chief Lauren Sullivan. “There were 21 of us; I remember that distinctly because we became such a family.”

The Dawn of the Juuling Epidemic

In 2017, during the emerging trend of Juuling among students, Hi’s Eye featured a groundbreaking article written by Greta Frontero that was later published by the New York Times. At the time, Juuling was relatively new, and its prevalence in the school was just beginning to surface. “Teachers would think they were USB flash drives. Students would do it all the time, even in the classroom,” said Frontero. The situation escalated when three students were suspended in a single day, prompting Hi’s Eye to cover the issue.

“Nobody wanted to write the article because no one wanted to be the one to ‘expose’ their classmates,” said Frontero. Despite this, she stepped up and offered to write it because she thought it would be interesting to investigate. She interviewed the suspended students anonymously and the teacher who suspended them. After writing the story, Frontero “knew a lot of people would read it because the perspective was coming from a kid, and stories at the time of Juuling had only come from adults and outsiders.”

“It blew up more than I would have ever thought,” said Frontero. The article was left as a standalone, meaning it was printed as its own edition. 

The immediate aftermath brought a wave of attention that both thrilled and terrified Frontero. “I didn’t go into school the next day,” she admitted, reflecting on the fear of facing her peers. The article quickly became a hot topic among students and parents alike, leading to confrontations at football games and community events. 

A freelance writer from the NYT reached out to Frontero regarding her article, highlighting her bravery for stepping up and writing it. Her story was linked on the NYT website by the freelance writer. To this day, Frontero continues to gain recognition for the article and takes pride in her work at WHS in Room 111.

WHS Shaken: Reflecting on 9/11

Many Americans remember where they were at 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001. Whether it was from their own home, or the uncertainty of their office, people watched in horror as the history of America shifted before their eyes. For Steve Krakauer, the situation presented not only a tragedy, but an opportunity to inform as he watched the twin towers fall in the beginning of his Hi’s Eye class in Room 111.  

“Our teacher said to Adam and I to just go,” Krakauer recalled. Being a special editor, Krakauer and close friend Adam Turner sprang at the first sight of action. “I remember hearing about a plane right as the period was starting,” he said. They quickly headed to the Westfield Police Department.

“I tried to be a fly on the wall,” he said. Krakauer and Turner encountered first hand how the tragedy impacted their own community; a Westfield resident stood before them covered in the dust of the day’s horror.

With their next edition being printed on Wednesday and 9/11 happening on Tuesday, there was a quick 24-hour window for Krakauer and Turner to write their initial story. It wasn’t until the following week that they got to do a full four-page collaborative edition on the event.

“Reporting on that day was surreal,” Krakauer shared. “We were just kids, but it was like we had suddenly been thrust into the heart of history. It made me realize how powerful journalism can be, especially in times of crisis.”

Although the experience was filled with sorrow and fear, it also ignited a passion within Krakauer. “I wanted to be a voice for those who couldn’t speak, to share stories that needed to be told,” he said.

Krakauer is hopeful for the future of journalism despite the changing landscape of the workforce. After graduating from college, he worked at NBC and as an executive producer for Megyn Kelly, solidifying his belief that “smart journalists will be the last to go.” Though the industry was rife with challenges and a constant stream of rejection, he emphasizes the importance of “having confidence and moving forward as a journalist.”

Starting the Conversation on Abortion

While the world may not have been ready to discuss taboo topics like abortion, the women of Hi’s Eye in 1972 were. The staff dedicated an entire page to raising awareness for the growing abortion issue.

The spread offered a variety of opinions, voicing the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church’s anti-abortion stance as well as Westfield medical professionals who believe that women should be presented with a choice. 

The edition was a reflection of the counterculture movement happening at the time, highlighting the new feminist movement, in which a woman’s sexuality was becoming normalized. WHS staff stated in their spread that there is a “pregnancy problem in WHS” that the administration was refusing to address. The women acknowledged that preaching abstinence was no longer a solution, and called on the school to educate their students on abortion.

“Publishing this article made us feel strong,” said former page editor for Class of 1972 Kathryn McElroy. McElroy talked about how the issue was relevant to the Hi’s Eye classroom as a student at WHS had to travel all the way to New York to get an abortion. The female staff members of Hi’s Eye recognized this was unacceptable and there was a need for options and education for young girls in New Jersey.  

“It was different from what we normally did but we felt it was affecting the women of our community and was important,” McElroy said. She expressed how passionately her and the other women of the publication felt about the coverage being done correctly. Many of them reached out to Planned Parenthood and got as many interviews as possible. 

These women took on this article with the understanding that there would be various opinions and potential pushback. “[Our advisor] Mr. Clarkson definitely wasn’t happy about the article, but knew we thought it was important and went along with it. That was one of the ways he fought for us as student journalists.”

The women of WHS clearly “had their finger on the pulse” of the world as the court case of Roe V. Wade made abortion legal for women a mere year later in 1973. While uncomfortable topics being discussed in school newspapers today is normalized, the women of 1972 were considered courageous for speaking out against social norms.

Civil Rights, or Lack Thereof

In the 1960s, amidst the events of the John F. Kennedy assassination and Vietnam War, Hi’s Eye let many notable stories go under-reported — one being the Civil Rights Movement. Speaking with Barbara Mannino, a 1964 Hi’s Eye alumna, it became clear that student journalists of her time faced a different social landscape. Mannino began writing for the paper in her sophomore year and served as a page one editor before becoming news bureau editor. The assassination of President Kennedy was a focal point for the paper, but major events like the March on Washington didn’t make the cut.

Mannino described the 1960s at WHS as a quieter time before the activism that later swept the country. “We were just on the cusp of that. It all started when we went to college,” she noted. Growing up in what she described as a “happy time,” students were largely sheltered from political unrest because of the privilege in their community and predominantly white town. 

“It wasn’t a time of activation for us then,” she said, noting that her peers’ focus remained on personal milestones like college applications and senior events. Civil rights were discussed at the national level, but not in the corridors of WHS. “We didn’t have the same access to information or guidance that modern journalists do. It was a different time,” she recalled.

After leaving what was at the time Room 106, Mannino took to a career in journalism carrying her Hi’s Eye skills into her future career. Despite the newsroom back in the ‘60s being more conservative regarding story choices, Mannino said that “being part of the [Hi’s Eye] taught [her] the importance of storytelling and the power of voice.” Even though the paper may not have covered civil rights extensively, the skills she developed in critical thinking and writing laid the groundwork for her future endeavors as an activist. 

Today, Mannino reflects on how those early experiences instilled in her a lifelong commitment to social justice and an awareness of the responsibility that comes with being a journalist. 

Advisors Through the Years

While time often creates change, one thing remains consistent throughout WHS’ journalism program’s history: a student’s love for their advisor. Whether it’s deciding how to cover a hard hitting news story or needing someone to lean on, students’ time in the newsroom was heavily impacted by their mentors. 

Despite never having the pleasure of meeting His Eye Advisor Walt Clarkson, his reputation precedes him and is carried out through his students today. Having met with three of his past writers, they all agreed that his wisdom and knowledge made him a person people wanted to respect. 

“He was a man of his community,” said McElroy. Although being a track coach and English teacher, Clarkson put Hi’s Eye above all else. “He would fight for us; that’s what I remember most,” said Barry Cohen from class of 1972.

Dr. Warren Hynes, recognizable to current WHS students as their former assistant principal, had the pleasure of being the Hi’s Eye advisor from 2004-2018. Dr. Hynes joked he was “more like a fun uncle than anything” to his students, but his class of 2019 would argue differently. “We considered him one of us,” Sumas said. 

He fostered a classroom of not only encouragement and support, but also friendship. When Dr. Hynes’s time as advisor came to a close, students honored his legacy with a “limited edition” mock newspaper, which only Dr. Hynes got the pleasure of reading. This paper recounted old inside jokes and class memories that he created. “If I had a really bad day I would just go sit and read that newspaper.” 

Current Advisor Shawn McDonald brings a high-energy approach that is completely unique. Following Dr. Hynes was no easy task and Mcdonald vividly remembers the cold shoulder her students initially gave her. “We were really adamant about hating her from the start, but I think it took us two days to wind up loving her,” said Sullivan, one of McDonald’s first students. Mcdonald makes it a priority to create a classroom where everyone has the chance to express themselves. This prompted the creation of Optic magazine and Hi’s Eye sports, both of which Mcdonald is advisors of. She ensures she has personal connections with each of her students and they come to think of Room 111 as a home.