A feature article, while a form of news, is more heavily catered towards human interest, both informative and captivating. The purpose of a feature story is to not only educate readers on a certain topic but to also ensure that readers are drawn in, through relatability and a range of perspectives. Extensive amounts of research—most commonly gained through interviews—are crucial in delivering a compelling narrative.

We feel strongly that a tight community is beneficial in producing interesting and heavily read pieces of writing. As editors, we hope every staff writer feels a sense of belonging and comfort in our section. We want to expand the Feature section to include people from every niche at ETHS. Who you are shapes how you write, and we want to have writers who have a variety of different opinions and perceptions of the world. 

Our hope is to lead a section where everyone is comfortable talking to each other. Being part of the newspaper is about more than just writing stories, it’s also about meeting people who have different interests, ideas, and goals, who all share a love of journalism. 

We also want to become more involved with the ETHS community at-large. The student body should see the Feature section—and the Evanstonian as a whole—as a place to amplify their voices. We want you to come to us and tell us what your thoughts are, as well as what you’d like to see from us. 

Since the very beginning, the Feature section of the Evanstonian has remained successful in putting out pieces that are geared directly towards the student body. Writing concepts are produced as a group, where ETHS students then use their imagination and writing style to transfer each idea into a full-fledged article. Our goal is always to be a serious publication and provide you with accurate information that you can rely on, but we also want to embrace the inherent locality of a school publication. We want to keep our reporting local and focused on Evanston and even more so, the ETHS community and its personal struggles and accomplishments.

Although we’re very happy with where the Feature section is now and all the work that’s been done for it, it’s important to acknowledge what can be improved on as well.

As editors, we feel responsible for bringing the student body together and ensuring that each individual knows what a safe space the Evanstonian community is. After far too many awkward and intimidating Zoom meetings, it is crucial to use this year as an opportunity to bounce ideas off another and expand our community. 

While necessary, it can often be a challenge to choose to write difficult, maybe even controversial, stories. Our goal is to change that view and inform writers that those stories can be extremely successful when written correctly.

In addition, we hope to gain more consistent writers and student readers. We know that reading the newspaper is not a normal pastime for a high schooler, but we want to be a publication that students can turn to when they have questions about what’s going on in the community or when they want to learn about an issue that’s been bothering them. 

We encourage you all to join the Evanstonian community! Please reach out to either Ahania Soni or Jilian Denlow, the editor and assistant editor of the Feature section, or Eden Drajpuch and Lauren Dain, the executive editors.