Dear readers,

A little over a year ago, our editorial team began a new chapter for The Kiosk, which had been dormant for a couple of years in the aftermath of the pandemic. The original editorial team, led by Lisa Sheridan and Milan Fredericks until 2021, provided a strong foundation for us to build off of, but there was still a lot of work to do to get our student newspaper up and running again. We created a new website and logo, laid out new submission guidelines for students, and set out to cover the most important issues for students at CUNY SPS. In that year, we’ve seen the CUNY SPS community grow as students found more ways to connect virtually and in person than ever before.

Student clubs flourished at CUNY SPS this past year, with Club Week at the beginning of each semester seeing plenty of new clubs and the return of existing ones. Our Club Week Spotlight series covered everything from Black Student Union to Creative Writing Club to Anime Club, and many more.

The Kiosk has also worked to strengthen that sense of community through our own workshops and contests. During the Spring 2024 semester, we hosted two photojournalism workshops, a photojournalism contest, and a community reporting contest. These workshops covered the journalistic elements of photography and how to capture a story through a photo. As a result, we received amazing submissions that told unique New York stories, from both the winners and honorable mentions. And lastly, our community reporting contest encouraged students to explore their neighborhoods, talk to locals or even delve into virtual communities to report their experiences.

Overall, it’s been an incredible year of coverage, with everything from news covering the goings-on at CUNY SPS to more creative projects from students, including poetry and short fiction. In fact, there have been so many stories worth highlighting that we can’t name them all in this short letter!

We wanted to thank all the student writers, faculty and staff advisors, and workshop hosts that made such an amazing year possible, especially Anthony Sweeney and Ariana Souzis, who have been with us every step of the way! Sadly, our managing editor, Tasnia Rashid, has just graduated (congrats!) and is moving on to pursue her career goals in information systems. Without her hard work writing stories, developing the backend of our website, and so much more, The Kiosk would be nothing. So thank you everyone for your support in making this newspaper a real community!

The Kiosk will return in the Fall 2024 semester, so stay tuned for our first info session of the semester. Lastly, thank you to all the students who contributed articles and creative work this year. For the students who were thinking about submitting their work but never got the chance, reach out to us in the fall!

Congrats to the grads and we hope you all have a great summer!

Ivan De Luce, editor-in-chief
Tasnia Rashid, managing editor