Welcome to Volume 107 of the Riverdale Review! As the new Editors-in-Chief, we, Lauren Gilman and Estelle Anderson, are excited to lead this new chapter of the newspaper alongside our wonderful staff and advisors. A huge thank you to our former Editors-in-Chief, Peter Edelstein and Kylie Stenzler, who not only navigated the newspaper through the Covid-19 pandemic but also propelled it into new digital territory by creating our Riverdale Review app (now available on the App Store!) with the help of our former Head of Digital Media, Aidan Friedsam.
First and foremost, we intend to continue working towards the goal outlined in the Riverdale Review’s mission statement published in September, 2020: put simply, the increased dedication of time, energy, thought, and space to combating discrimination and inequities in our community. This past year, our Front Page Editor, Ishikaa Kothari, used the front page as a space to amplify marginalized Riverdale voices and to dissect topics previously unexplored by the paper, including antisemitism within Riverdale and the implications of Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment to the Supreme Court for the LGBTQ+ community. This volume, we will further engage in investigative journalism and focus on topics of social justice; we are making it a goal to give our readers the tools necessary to become active change makers and allies within our community. We will aim to publish articles that educate and galvanize students to take action, and we will work to represent a wider variety of voices and beliefs in each issue. As we enter Volume 107, we pledge to continue engaging in the effort to make Riverdale a more accepting and just place.
Now, we acknowledge that, in recent years, Riverdale Review readership hasn’t been particularly robust. We want to make the Riverdale Review cater to you by making it more interactive and exploring issues you care about. The paper has the potential to fulfill a more essential role amongst the student body.
As a school newspaper, we are one of the primary sources of Riverdale news, and the preeminent platform for students to communicate directly with the community at large. We invite you to this platform. Did you do something exciting over the summer that you are itching to share with your peers? Do you have a burning opinion that you want to publicize, whether on a recent development in U.S. politics or the true winner of this year’s spring dodgeball tournament? Perhaps you made art over the summer that you want to display in a photo essay or drew a cartoon that you’d like to share. We would love to hear from you and turn your requests into articles to be shared with students, faculty, parents, and an even broader community through our website. You can respond to the “Tips” Google Form, approach us in the hallways at school, or shoot us an email at eanderson22@riverdale.edu and lgilman22@riverdale.edu.
In response to the “Zoom and gloom” that has defined this past school year, we also hope to strike a balance between straight news and lighthearted pieces. This volume, expect more monthly quizzes, caption contests, and humor articles. We hope to incorporate more creative visuals into the paper, including interactive graphics, photo essays, and videos. Keep an eye out for a “Golden Edition” as well –– a special issue dedicated to humor and fun that we plan to release before a school break.
The strength of our paper as a whole is dependent on our writer base. We encourage writers across all grades to write for the paper throughout Volume 107; you can write two articles to be considered a Staff Writer. Next fall, we will be hosting an open house for potential writers and editors where we will tell you all about being a member of the Review.
We look forward to what the future holds for the Riverdale Review and hope that you will hold us accountable for sticking to our ambitions. Be sure to download our app, follow us on Instagram (@theriverdalereview_), and please reach out to us with your ideas, questions, or interest in becoming a writer!
