Being recognized for something good in the newspaper is a great feat. Having your first ever submission published is an even bigger feat. Junior Marilyn Skelly of Wake Forest High accomplished both. 

Janet Napoliello assigned her third year AP Language students to write a carefully and concisely crafted letter to the editor for news outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. 

A sizable number of students submitted their work, including Skelly, completely unsuspecting of what would become a success. Skelly found her Letter to the Editor was published by the Washington Post. 

Having taught this unit before, Napoliello wasn’t surprised to see Skelly in print. 

“Yes, absolutely, I expected it. Every student is capable of being published. They just need to put in the effort and work and know what they want to say and say it concisely and effectively. You stand a good chance of getting published.” 

Skelly was more unsuspecting of her success than Napoliello.

“When submitting my piece, I didn’t think it would get published, and I didn’t expect an email back from the Washington Post, but when I got that email, it was really shocking, and I was really excited.” 

When asked how this achievement will impact her future, Skelly says, “This has definitely opened up a lot of new doors. It made me realize that I have potential in English classes, which I didn’t know that I had before.”