As our city practically shut down for a week during the snowiest, coldest week Michigan has seen in decades, signs of closure were everywhere.

28th St’s once-bustling shops turned off their lights, and its snow-covered buildings blended in with the bleak, gray facade of the city. Cascade Rd’s once-busy path was deserted at rush hour, with only a few audacious cars traversing the roads, with dozens of totaled vehicles in ditches serving as warnings of danger.

To put it clearly, FH practically shut down for that one unbelievably frigid week. Aside from staff, few walked in and out of FHPS buildings.

However, you might have noticed that The Central Trend stayed fully functional and running. Truly like a well-oiled machine, each and every published story remained firmly on schedule throughout the snow as stories continued to be cranked out. As if the weather conditions didn’t even exist, our staff continued to submit and publish dozens of stories.

As editors, it elated us to see such obvious dedication from our staff. While each writer was likely stuck in their own homes, features, profiles, editorials, reviews, and columns continued to be written with the same passion, constitution, and quality as always. And it was evident that our readers enjoyed the content from those polar vortex days too; we racked up over 4,000 views during that one freezing week.

The funny thing is, as editors, we never addressed the possibility of an elusive “snow week” to our staff. The snow hit, then school was canceled, and without a single piece of direction, stories were still written by almost every staff member. In my eyes, this one week speaks wonders about the dedication, zeal, and enthusiasm contained within our eighteen writers.

To further our pride, Susannah, Reena, and I also began to submit MIPA entries this week. You might remember the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, or MIPA, from our field trip to Lansing back in October. In the spring, MIPA conducts a state-wide journalism competition, one that TCT has had wide success with in the past.

As we picked almost two dozen stories, we selected a wide variety of remarkable pieces from an eclectic blend of different writers, each reporting on different topics. In one word, the process of selecting only a few of our stories was exasperating.

We’ve posted hundreds of stories since the start of the school year, and each one holds a distinct splendor unlike any other; each writer holds their own style, and each story is unique in comparison. The one defining factor is the consistent bar of quality between each one. Reviews, in particular, presented a painful challenge for us to narrow down.

Some personal favorites of mine included Amanda’s review on the band Ritt Momney, Abby’s reflection on the quirky Stan Diego, Reena’s piece on the Fyre Festival documentary, and Susannah’s heartfelt analysis of the divine restaurant Forty Acres. A quick look back on any of these pieces immediately demonstrated the incredible caliber of talent we hold, from a high school staff nonetheless. To put it succinctly, it’s inspiring, puts a smile on my face, and truly makes me proud.

It’s a proud moment for the editors of TCT right now, from the performance put forth by our staff during snow week to the unbelievable difficulty we had narrowing down stories to submit for awards. As we enter a demanding period of effort moving into our Senior Edition preparations, we hold nothing but excitement for the content that our gifted staff will publish next.