Leadership positions in The Chronicle:
Editor-in-Chief (Grade 12)
Sports Editor (Grade 10 and 11)
As Editor-in-Chief, I have prioritized building a closely-knit team. Our staff has consistently produced a quality newspaper, but I noticed during my first two years on staff that our team unity could be stronger. As an athlete, I have witnessed first-hand the importance of a strong culture from top to bottom.
Our staff attended a summer workshop at Indiana University, something I advocated for after I was selected as EIC in the winter/spring of 2023. I worked with the editor team to create rooming pairs of one returning staff member and one new staff member to help acclimate them to the team. During this camp, our staff not only gained journalism experience but also spent valuable time together. The first day I organized staff bonding time, but the rest of the week all of our activities came about organically. When we returned to school in August, our classroom energy showed a noticeable difference. Returning staff members and new staff members all had a shared trust and familiarity. It allowed us to hit the ground running and have a successful start to the year.
Another change I have encouraged as Editor-in-Chief is involving staff writers more in the layout and design phase. Many of our writers have indicated an interest in contributing to the design of the paper, especially the pages their story appears on. In the past, time constraints have limited staff members from learning how to lay out. Instead, the task has fallen solely on the editor team at the end of our production cycle. When I started as a Sports Editor, I struggled with the stress of laying out the sports section in addition to my writing and editing responsibilities. Allowing interested writers to work on the page's layout has been very successful this year. Not only has it lightened the overload that the editors often face before sending it out, but it has also encouraged the writers to take more ownership of their stories and to stay ahead of deadlines. It also helps prepare underclassmen for future leadership roles.
Another important piece of my leadership process has been mentoring my peers who are underclassmen. In The Chronicle, I helped recruit a former teammate, Camden Paeltz, to join our staff last school year when he was a sophomore and I was a junior Sports Editor. Initially, we envisioned his role as a sports writer. At the beginning of the year, he struggled to adapt to a journalistic writing style and doubted his abilities. I worked closely with him to build his confidence as a writer. Part of that process was also helping him come up with creative ways to contribute to the paper while still writing journalistically. He found a niche laying out visual-heavy pages covering sporting events and teams. This discovery has played a major part in The Chronicle's visual style in 2023-24. As a junior, he has grown into an important leader in our classroom. His eye for good stories and aesthetically pleasing pages has improved, and now he helps other staff members with their pieces. His growth as a journalist and leader led to him being selected as Editor-in-Chief next school year, and I am very honored to have played a role in preparing a successor that I am confident is keeping the program in great hands.
In Mason Sports Radio, I was mentored greatly by two students who are two years older than me that welcomed me into the program as a freshman and empowered me to improve as both a broadcaster and behind-the-scenes operator. When they graduated, our program was left without any incoming seniors. Along with a few other students in my grade, I assumed a larger role in Sports Radio. Early last school year, a freshman named Daniel approached me with an interest in broadcasting. Daniel had a mature, commanding voice and is passionate about sports, but was very unsure of himself. He is partially blind, which sometimes clouds his view of the playing field. With occasional aid from the play-by-play announcer, Daniel delivers strong and concise analysis. I have announced countless games with Daniel since then and developed a friendship. He and I have developed strong chemistry as a broadcast tandem, with me as a play-by-play announcer and Daniel as the color commentator. Next year, Daniel is going to take on an elevated role with the program and help other students improve their announcing skills.