By Srishti Sawant

Walk into Room 123 on any school afternoon, and you will be met with a wing of sounds: keyboards clacking, the chatter of debates, and staffers chasing down interviewees; welcome to The Beacon.

At the core of the our school lies a metaphorical megaphone. The Beacon draws in the movie buffs, AP loaders, pathway enthusiasts, and a plethora other fanatics. But it doesn’t stop at just the letters you read on this screen. Mere days before the publication pops out on Thursday mornings, room 123 undergoes an interlude — beneath our silence, topics ranging from breaking out of virtual lab to senioritis race through our minds. Then, a burst of chatter emerges from the quiet room. Students begin exchanging ideas, debating which topics really matter.

Scouring each square inch of IA, the race to pursue interviews soon commences. Our press passes sway in the air as we rush towards our next target. Hastily transcribing interviews, we wonder how student voice can be best framed in this week’s edition. Circling back to our laptops, we juggle feature images, catchy titles, and technical formatting. With each article we discover a whole new side of IA.

“We collaborate with everyone.” says Ms. Scenna, The Beacon‘s sponsor of four years.

The niche nook of the newspaper lies far beyond solely writing. It’s about representing the IA community as a whole. Walk around our newsroom, and you won’t find a monolithic group of English majors. The Beacon is built by a diverse coalition of future biomedical engineers, aspiring corporate lawyers, software developers, and research scientists. On the surface, our career pathways look completely different. Yet, we all share one universal truth: no matter how revolutionary an algorithm or a legal defense might be, it is completely powerless without the ability to communicate it effectively. We learn the type of collaboration and leadership skills found in real life that isn’t easily emulated by most classes.

Our hard work isn’t just confined to the walls of Room 123, either. Every year, we submit our finest features to the Georgia Scholastic Press Association (GSPA). Competing against schools statewide gives our staff’s efforts an opportunity to earn official recognition, proving that even at a STEM school like IA, students excel at media literacy. Just last year, two of our very own staff members took home state prizes from the GSPA.

Room 123 is more than a newsroom; The Beacon is a space where every voice finds its frequency. Long after the Thursday morning distribution rush ends, the bonds built over these deadlines remain, proving that while equations can build the future, it is our stories that give it a heartbeat.