The 2016 teen issue

When people preface something with “Kids these days,” there’s a good chance they’re about to make some kind of blanket statement—probably disparaging—about the behavior or upbringing or fashion sense, or what have you of today’s young people. Kids these days ________. (You fill in the blank).

Well, I’ve been working with local teachers and their students in an effort to put together RN&R’s annual teen issue. And I’ve got a few “Kids these days” statements of my own to make. Kids these days are fun to talk with. Kids these days write surprisingly prompt and courteous email responses. Oh, and, kids these days are wicked talented artists.

Go ahead and take a look through the pages of our teen issue to see for yourself. Our cover is by Dalia Quintana, a Hug High senior. She’s created a distinctly modern if somewhat cynical revision of impressionist painter Berthe Morisot’s 1872 oil painting “The Cradle.”

We’ve got photos, paintings and drawings from students at Hug, McQueen, Reed, and Wooster. McQueen high school journalists, Hojin Stella Jung and Alice Samberg, wrote interesting profiles on two of the featured artists.

I hope you enjoy these artworks as much as I have. Maybe you’ll even have a favorite. I couldn’t choose just one. Each time a new photo, drawing or painting came in, I gushed about it to Dennis Myers and Brad Bynum. It was like watching fireworks: “Oh, look at that one! Wow, look at that one!” In fact, I received so many submissions that many didn’t make it into print. You can see other awesome artworks and written pieces by local students on my RN&R blog space: Special Sauce, which you’ll find on the RN&R website. Teen issue was a real blast.

Warmest regards,

Jeri Chadwell-Singley

RN&R special projects editor