By Elaine Chan & Phoebe Piserchio, Editors-in-Chief

Dear Mills community,

This is our very last letter that we will be writing to you all as the Editors-in-chief of The Thunderbolt for the 2024-25 school year. As we wrap up an incredible year, we want to take a moment to reflect, say our thank you’s, and most of all, share our gratitude for the immense support we’ve received from this community over the years.

This paper would be nothing without the brilliant staff behind it. We are endlessly grateful to our editorial team, who brought this publication to life every single cycle. Huge thanks to Amelia Naughten (News), Janelle Pantilon (Features), Abigail Chai (Center Spread), Isabelle Yang (Sports), and Bianca Pando (Entertainment); we’re so grateful for your creativity and commitment!

To Mr. Pretto, our advisor-thank you for your unwavering support, guidance,
and humor. And to our families and friends-thank you for your endless encouragement (and for reading every issue we hand delivered to you).

Being part of The Thunderbolt has given us a platform to speak, to grow, and to connect-with our peers, our campus, and ourselves. Journalism started out as simply an elective that sounded “pretty cool” to our underclassmen selves.

Now as graduating seniors, it ended up being the class that drove us to continue our exploration of Media, Journalism, and Communication in our next 4 years of undergraduate study. Being able to serve this team and publication as staff writers, section editors, and finally Editors-in-Chief made our high school career incredibly unique and impactful. As much as it gave us the space to use our voices and share our opinions, the best gratification came in the form of giving a voice to our student community here at Mills. The Thunderbolt holds a special place in our hearts as we dedicated our time, effort, and genuine passion to uplifting the student voice and emphasizing its power in our community.

As for our next 4 years, we will continue our studies, majoring in Media Industries and communications. We just knew that this path toward a more nuanced discovery of the topics we covered as a part of The Thunderbolt was a natural fit for us. We are incredibly excited to pass the torch onto Amelia Naughten who will be taking on the role of Editor-in-chief in her upcoming senior year. We wish her all the best adventures as well as to the entire management team for the 2025-2026 school year! Thank you again for giving us the opportunity to serve the Mills and Millbrae community through The Thunderbolt and watch out for next year’s first issue coming out in the fall of 2025!

Signing off,
Elaine Chan & Phoebe Piserchio

Editors-in-Chief 2024-2025