At the start of the 2024-25 school year, history teacher Sue Ikenberry and sophomore Julian Shishkin reorganized the political cartoon board outside the history department. The political cartoon board has offered political commentary to GDS students and staff for roughly ten years.
Though Shishkin said he liked the political cartoon board last year, he sought to make it more organized. He divided the board into different sections and color-coded them. He also added a section to the board for student and faculty submissions. Shishkin and Cartooning Club head Noah Cheeks have also added a section of the board designated for submissions from members of the club.
Cheeks explained that he and co-head Ella Schneider have drawn the bulk of the cartoons so far, but they are looking to increase contributions.
Ikenberry receives cartoons through her email from independent cartoon collector Daryl Cagle as well as a variety of websites online, such as GoComics and Cartoon Movement. She then lets Shishkin pick the specific cartoons to put on the board.
Shishkin plans to replace outdated cartoons with newer ones roughly every three weeks, choosing the cartoons that are most relevant and funny from what Ikenberry sends him and submissions by students and faculty.
“The purpose of the cartoon board is to offer kind of a critique or a comment on worldly events through the medium of comedy—visual and artistic comedy,” Shishkin said. “People may see a joke about Elon Musk and Trump and they learn something new.”
Visual arts teacher Mark Giaimo, who used to work as a cartoonist for The Washington Post, said that cartoons can be a way to address political turmoil. “I think it’s great to express yourself and blow off some steam,” he said. “You have no idea what impact it’s gonna have.”
“I think some kids really look forward to [the political cartoon board] and walk by and read and others just walk by and don’t care about it that much,” Ikenberry said. “I think it depends on how active kids are politically and how interested they are in political cartoons.”
Senior Ben Hellman, who often reads the political cartoon board, explained that he likes political cartoons because they are a concise way to make a point. “If you ever wonder what’s going on, it gets right to the point, and I think it’s really great to get a lot of political viewpoints represented in that way for everyone in the school to see,” Hellman said.
Ikenberry said as Donald Trump’s term continues, cartoons will become more critical of the federal government. “I think they’ll get meaner,” she said. “Most cartoonists are liberal.” However, she was quick to point out that, like Michael Ramirez, who contributes to The Washington Post, not all cartoonists are liberal.
Shishkin said putting up cartoons about Trump is somewhat inevitable. “I feel that Trump is taking up so much space in the playing field that is American politics, to the point where I try not to have the board be about Trump, but it’s hard not to,” Shishkin said.
Hellman said he’d like the cartoon board to include more international cartoons. “I think that would be good for giving everyone a taste of foreign affairs,” Hellman said.
The success of GDS’s cartoon board has continued amid struggles in the cartooning industry. “When I was first thinking about cartooning when I was your age, there were three hundred or something full time positions,” Giaimo said. “I think there are less than 30 now.”
Giaimo has experienced the decline in popularity first hand. “I think the last time I was [cartooning] was 2005-2006, and then I switched to art. I just knew newspapers were dying and I had to find something else.” Giaimo said. He then taught at art studios and was an illustrator for The Washington Post before being laid off in 2023.
Shishkin said he hopes that the political cartoon board can include more student contributions in the future. “I want to make it more not just me and Sue doing cartoons but more of a community collaboration,” Shishkin said.