Editor-in-Chief
Stepping into the role of one of two editor-in-chiefs was scary for me. I previously had leadership roles like being a captain on my school's pom team, however I knew leading a group of 38 people in a high school classroom was going to be completely different. However I quickly came to love this role and learn (and I'm still learning) how to develop so many qualities of mine that will be essential in the real world. Here are some of the biggest projects/thing's I've had to do being in this amazing position.
THE LADDER
One of the biggest assignments of the year was creating our book's 348 page ladder. My fellow EiC and I decided we wanted to change the structure of our book and do something we've never done before. Our goal was to make the structure easier for our readers to find pages, creating this was a big challenge. These are just four pages of our 14 page layout.
DEADLINES
Assigning deadlines to our staffers and editors is also a big job of mine. This whole process entails creating a calendar for the two week cycle which includes all of their photo, copy, coverage deadlines, and any events the school may have in the weeks like late starts, half days, days off, etc. I quickly grasped and enjoyed this task because it required me to strategically place different staffers on different pages they would thrive in, or would allow them to grow. Does this
page have someone who will be able to lead the group? Do they have good photographers and writers? Will this person work well with this person? These are all questions I had to ask myself in order to make sure these pages were the best they could possibly be.
SENIOR PORTRAITS
Our school's senior class is very large, there is around 650 students. A task as editor-in-chief is gathering and placing all of the senior portraits. We had about 150 seniors not turn in photos, which is normal for our school, so this process of dealing with around 500 photos was very long and tedious. This was the first year since 2015 we decided not to do senior quotes under our headshots. So in order to make up for this and make the seniors' last yearbook special, we had to have multiple class discussions to brainstorm ideas on what to do for the seniors. In the end, my co-editor-in-chief and I rearranged some pages on our ladder and added a special senior section. On the right is one of four pages exclusive to the senior class.
GROUPCHAT COMMUNICATION
Our staff uses the app GroupMe to communicate. I use this as effectively as possible by sending out reminders of deadlines approaching, where they should be at on their deadlines, and anything else the class should know. Staying in the loop of ten different group chats at a time can be tricky with a busy schedule, however it's essential for me to view each group chat daily and make sure everything is running smoothly.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
One of my jobs as editor-in-chief is starting class every day with daily announcements. Getting a class of 38 kids to pay attention to you all at once is a challenge. However, this job has allowed me to advance my skills in public speaking, and maintaining a positive, motivated atmosphere.
