With nothing but four pieces of paper, a couple of staples and a passion for providing others with information, 10 CHS students built an institution from the ground up. In November of 2002, these 10 students wrote, printed, published and assembled the very first issue of The Inkblot, creating the quintessential medium for the aspiring journalists of CHS to explore all that the field has to offer.
Though The Inkblot wasn’t yet a part of CHS when the school was established in 2000, it has now become an indelible element of the school and its journalism curriculum.
Since its inception, 20 years’ worth of Inkblot members have upheld the paper’s mission to “be a public forum for student expression” and “honor the highest goals of journalism by striving for truth, accuracy and objectivity first.”
Over the course of two decades, The Inkblot has seen a total of 125 issues, 32 editors-in-chief, two advisors and countless budding journalists. The initial issue may look drastically different from the present-day papers, as it was printed in-house, solely in black and white and with only four sections — news, features, opinion, and sports — but the spirit of the publication has, at its core, remained the same.
What keeps The Inkblot going is its dedicated staff: the writers and editors who continue to contribute to the paper out of a mutual love of journalism. These are the students eager to claim an article at story assignment meetings; the writers who start drafting their stories while conducting interviews; those who don’t hesitate to dive in when a new issue is distributed. Year after year, The Inkblot has continued to draw in these CHS students.
“Because the entire staff is so passionate, we were able to tackle important and maybe controversial issues that we cared about, and actually gain insight into the challenges — and rewards — of journalism,” said former editor-in-chief Alexis Colucci, a CHS alum from the Class of 2019.
In commemoration of The Inkblots’ 20th anniversary, former editors-in-chief highlight the successes, lessons and the lifelong memories The Inkblot has provided them with and how their time spent as a leader of The Inkblot shaped
their passions and careers.
“Whenever anyone asks me about my high school newspaper, I always talk about the scandals I got to cover there. The thrill of reporting, asking questions of authorities, tracking down what really happened and getting the story out – there’s nothing like it.”- Cayla Harris 2015-2016 EIC
“We got a cease and desist letter from Playa Bowls for an exposé on their price markups. To this day, I boycott their stores because they attempted to censor a local high school newspaper. The Inkblot meant so much to me and instilled such a high level of brazenness and curiosity.”Julia Pardee 2016-2017 EIC
“My favorite memory is staying super late on layout days with the board, driving ourselves crazy by pitching terrible headline ideas and laughing about them.” Evan Kuo 2019-2020 EIC
“One of my favorite memories at The Inkblot was opening up our final issue right after it was delivered my senior year.”Isabella Cavazzoni 2017-2018 EIC
“In one issue, we did a spread on teen sex. It was a big swing for us, but the final product made us proud. I still remember handing it out in the CHS hallways! And I still feel that way when I see my writing in print. It doesn’t get old, Inkblotters!” Sarah Lynch 2016-2017 EIC
“Toward the end of my senior year, we launched the first episode of InkTV – and it’s so, so cool to see that still happening now.” Cayla Harris 2015-2016 EIC
