We are gathered here today in memory of Mountain Shadows, Sahuaro High School’s previous newspaper – the newspaper that many loved, but is long-lost and forgotten. Sahuaro students and faculty enjoyed the printed newspaper year after year; it was one of our greatest traditions to read the monthly edition. Today, we will break the tradition by having our first online newspaper. Today, we are bringing a new era to Sahuaro’s journalism. Today, we must say goodbye to Mountain Shadows.

Mountain Shadows had many accomplishments over the years, thanks to the dedication of the staff and teachers. Andrew Walanski, 2007-2008 Mountain Shadow’s advisor, noted that one of his fondest memories was taking a class trip to UMC Diamond Children’s Center to interview children who were fighting cancer. Another advisor, Chuck McCollum, was proud of how his students tried to “produce a product that kept to the tradition of excellence Mountain Shadows was known for, alive.” Indeed the Mountain Shadows student journalists were dedicated. The Paper Cut hopes to strive for that passion.

“Whenever the newspaper came out, it was a big deal,” Mrs. Holly, who was part of the very first graduating class of Sahuaro, reminisces about reading Mountain Shadows. She has a copy to this day, in her Memory Box.  Every month, students would hurry to get their own freshly printed copy by friends and classmates. The traditional print newspaper became sentimental to readers, but came at a cost. The class had troubles in managing budget and time. It wasn’t a surprise that the copy shipments came a few weeks late, and it was inconvenient for the timeliness of articles. Mrs. Halfmann, the final advisor, also saw these problems and hoped to go online like we have, but Mountain Shadows regretfully disbanded in 2013. By finally saying goodbye to Mountain Shadows, we are welcoming an exciting online newspaper that is current, easily accessible, and saves paper.

Mountain Shadows will always be remembered in many hearts. R.I.P. old friend!