As the school year comes to a close, The Breck Bugle editorial team has taken a moment to reflect on the past year. From major headlines to everyday moments at Breck, The Bugle editors, writers, and contributors have worked tirelessly to capture it all with thoughtfulness and careful consideration. The Bugle has changed a lot and continues to look for space to improve. This section discusses how this past year has gone and what the hopes are for the future.
Changes to The Bugle
The Breck Bugle started the year off with a big change—Mr. Daniel took over for Ms. Scherer as the faculty advisor. With Mr. Daniel at the helm, The Bugle editors got straight to work. It was to be a year full of great changes, including more involved journalists and increased engagement. Some ways that The Bugle increased student appreciation for its journalism were through a new layout, more authors, and higher writing quality. This new layout, pioneered by editors Catherine Walker and Olivia Kramer—with Mr. Daniel’s and Ms. Terrell’s guidance—helped to create a more professional newspaper. This new look helped The Bugle transform into the amazing publication it is today. Additionally, an increased quantity of articles has broadened The Bugle’s reader base, giving everyone something to read. Whether one likes hearing about Breck alumni like Daniel Freitag, popular culture like Ash Travino, or current events like the election, The Bugle can now cover it all. Along with the higher quantity of articles has come a higher quality, helping The Bugle lean into Breck’s core value of excellence in our journalism. Finally, The Breck Bugle has focused more on writing about current events through the lens of Breck. While we continue to report on national and international issues, we have also chosen to focus on covering issues that relate to Breck and to highlight perspectives from members of the Breck community on larger issues. This change reflects our values that journalism should reflect the spaces it exists in; for The Bugle, that is Breck and its students. As The Bugle grows, the goal is to become a space for the Breck community to see itself, ask questions, and spark conversations.
Current Events
The Current Events section of The Breck Bugle has been busy covering the many significant events of the past year, especially the 2024 presidential election. The Bugle had two articles conveying the differing perspectives of Breck students William Oltman and Avital Krebs, and through these articles, The Bugle leaned into discourse and differing perspectives. Beyond these opinion pieces, The Bugle also published reporting by Liv Kramer regarding the election and the presidential candidates as well as relevant context by Anna Harrington on the Electoral College. The Breck Bugle has also put a focus on developing the opinion section of the newspaper with a commitment to fostering thoughtful, informative, and engaging conversations within the Breck community. Opinion pieces by Benny Marmor, Jared Noble, and Juniper Setterberg, among others, are spaces for students to express their personal perspectives about specific topics—from school policies to national debates—and inspire debates within Breck itself. By amplifying student voices, the opinion section seeks to reflect the curiosity, complexity, and thought of members of the Breck community.
Student Life
The Student Life section of The Breck Bugle this year was vibrant and dynamic, capturing a wide array of student experiences and accomplishments that define the spirit and excellence of Breck. From fashion with a purpose to athletic triumphs, these articles offered a window into what makes student life at Breck so impactful. For example, Avital Krebs highlighted how the Sunshine Sale took the school by storm, blending sustainability with style and showcasing student leadership; Eileen Mortimer covered DECA’s rapid rise this year, with 11 students qualifying for state championships; and Emma Zucchi followed Breck’s participation in Model UN debates at Macalester College. The Bugle also covered Breck students’ civic engagement, from voting on the school’s AI policy to engaging thoughtfully with Voterama. Not only did The Bugle focus on the successes of current Breck students but also on the triumphs of alumni like Daniel Freitag whose collegiate dunk brought excitement and pride to the Breck community. Across these stories, themes of initiative, inclusivity, and student voice emerged, painting a dynamic picture of Breck life.
Pop Culture
The Pop Culture section of The Bugle this year offered students a space to explore and reflect on the media, celebrities, and cultural moments that shaped all of our lives. Whether through pointed movie reviews, sports recaps, or celebrity spotlights, these articles connected the Breck community to the wider world of entertainment. For instance, Maria Rohlfsen celebrated Minnesota basketball legend Paige Bueckers, highlighting her NCAA championship win and the anticipation surrounding her next steps. Many contributors—Maria Rohlfsen, Phoenix Flamenbaum, Matea Homan, SP Kabat, and others—also delivered sharp film and TV analyses, from reviews of The White Lotus, to the Academy Award-winning film The Substance, to Wicked. Meanwhile, Aven Leventhal and Annie Grossman anchored the section with their ongoing coverage of Taylor Swift, contributing a Swiftie article nearly every cycle as her Eras Tour unfolded. Overall, this section combined enthusiasm and insight, showing how pop culture can be both fun and meaningful, and highlighting how it is an ever-present part of the Breck student experience.
The Future
The Bugle has some exciting plans and hopes for the future. One of the rising senior editors, Olivia Kramer, is writing an article for The Star Tribune, which we hope to include in one of our future issues. The Bugle is so excited for her and encourages anyone writing with another organization in the near future to also publish their work in our student newspaper. The Bugle also plans to expand its social media presence next year, using fun videos interspersed with article shoutouts and information. Through this innovative social media approach, The Bugle hopes to grow its online presence into something that Breck students are excited to interact with. Additionally, the editors have been working on search engine optimizations for article titles. This can be seen with Aven Leventhal’s article “Who is Ash Trevino?,” which has acquired over 2,900 views online. Flamenbaum and Leventhal collaborated on crafting an article title that would rise to the top of search engines and draw people to The Breck Bugle’s website. Additionally, The Breck Bugle hopes to continue highlighting Breck perspectives throughout the newspaper, aiming to capture a Breck connection within almost all of our articles. The future for The Bugle is bright, and with continued collaboration, creativity, and commitment, we will continue growing as we provide news for the Breck community.
