Hello Smoke Signal readers! It is Avery Torres, your Editor in Chief, back with a second semester ‘Letter From the Editor’. After completing our first semester of the 2023-2024 school year, I could not be more pleased with the current state of our newspaper. We published over 34 articles in the first semester! Our authors were working hard to curate story ideas, interview students and staff, and meet deadlines. If you haven’t checked out any of the updated sports articles or what theater was up to this first semester, then make sure to go check it out on the page!

However, without the help of our amazing staff, the newspaper would not be where it’s at today! Thank you to my Copy Editors who were introduced last semester (go check out my first semester ‘Letter From the Editor’ if you haven’t already) that truly put in a lot of time and dedication to revise these articles. I am also very proud to announce that this next semester we will be adding a new Copy Editor to the team. Sophomore, Marianne Braxton, will now be joining our staff. 

Last semester, our goal was to consistently update you (our readers) on the events around Lompoc High and although that is still our goal, we’d also like to include more features on our page about community events, news, and more. Lompoc High thrives off of the strong and tight-knit community built within the citizens of our town. Without your support for our school, it would not be possible to be writing about the successes of our students here. So in addition to our original goals, we’d also like to expand it into covering more about the amazing opportunities and successes of our town!

Once again, I’d like to thank you for your support of the Smoke Signal. As I enter into my final semester, It saddens me to be passing the title of Editor in Chief onto the next student in a few months, but I could not be more proud of the success we’ve had these last four years. The paper will not only continue to grow, but will continue to embody Brave Pride and how driven our students and staff are to make it such a beautiful community. Thank you and here is to the second semester of the Class of 2024.

– Avery Torres, your Editor in Chief