Learning the requirements for the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association (MIPA) Spartan critique, a state recognition award for student made publications, I teach the staffers what the writing requirements are in order to grade previous books in preparation for developing the 2026 Yearbook's theme on March 13, 2025.
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
In order for greatness to grow in others, someone must lead them to said greatness.
As a producer of a sports news show and co-editor-in-chief, leadership is vital and make sure that everyone's experience and effort is at their highest while finishing their work.
A phrase I found and now come to love is:
"Raise others above yourself, and all will excel."
I wanted to make sure that all my staffers/reporters, including myself set their priorities and learning along the way. Let's see how we all grew together below.
EDITING
EDITING
WRITING
WRITING
When editing, I always have the Associated Press Writing Style notes in mind when reviewing feature stories or captions. Let's take a look at a first draft of a feature story. For this, I go through three phases of editing:
- Quick Scan
I check for grammatical errors and present tense to be replaced.
2. AP Verification
2. AP Verification
Read through each paragraph 3 or 4 times to see if the story is structured correctly according to AP.
3. Theme Verification
3. Theme Verification
Instead of adding suggestions to text, I comment on some sections to make sure that the text matches with the section verbal theme. (That being All Things Considered)
With this method, it helps my staffers understand how to write like a "yerd" and how their writing should tie in with the year's theme. With Google Docs, it helps staffers and myself be able to interact with each other whether in-person or at home. Yes, they can just breeze through the first two and accept all. But, with the last point, it helps the writer to understand how the story should align with the book. And by looking at the feature story again, it looks more polished with the yearbook's theme this year.
DESIGN
DESIGN
When it came to designing the cover, I wanted to make sure that it looked visually appealing, and fit our style guide perfectly. And after 4 months of switching cover artists, I along with the other editors worked to make sure that this cover fit our theme.
To the left is the style guide we decided over at a summer camp hosted by our Jostens Representative, Ms. Rianne Price at Brighton High School, Brighton, MI.
On the first day, we met with Stephen Haynes, a Jostens Cover Artist to help us design our cover.
Version 1
Version 1
Designed by Stephen Haynes
Pros
Great use of colors
Love the spine design
Like the rustic texture
Cons
Gradients would be to hard to replicate in Jostens Layout Pro
Grid pattern would be to hard to replicate in Jostens Layout Pro
Jostens Icon barely visible
Main theme logo should stand out more
Version 2
Version 2
Designed by Hillary Wygonik
Pros
Like the perspective design of "CONSIDERED"
Like the rustic texture
Cons
Design-wise, it looks terrible
Perspective would be to hard to replicate in Jostens Layout Pro
Gray personalization would barely be visible for print
Drop shadow does not work well with purple
Version 3 (FINAL)
Version 3 (FINAL)
Re-designed by Cody Stedman
Pros
Love the logo shine
Love the use
White/gray stands out perfectly
Line designs can be replicated in Jostens Layout Pro
Cons
"2025" spine looks too small
Gray gradient would be hard to replicate in Jostens Layout Pro
LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP
I always wanted to lead others. And after a year of being a staffer and listening to my upperclassmen editors, I was appointed to lead a group of yearbook staffers for all things design and co-producing a sports news show.
I was grateful for it, but I didn't want to make all the decisions without some input from the underclassmen.
They needed to know from the start that I am someone that they can go to for help.
And for Yearbook, even though my title is "EIC of Design", I still know how the AP Writing Style and manual photography settings, just like the other editors.
By showing that trait, they would learn that I would be someone that they can rely on for whatever they need.
The first day of school, we share about who we are and special things in our life that we don't usually share.
We do this in order to have other staffers open up to us in an easier way.
One of the slides describes what each of the editors do that others might not know.
Another one of the slides shows what section that we would cover.
By doing this, the staff were able to adapt to each of us to learn what we expect of them and how they can improve upon their assignments deadline by deadline.
TEAM BUILDING
TEAM BUILDING
At the Jostens Summer Workshop on June 16, 2024, I talk with Mr. Jamie Vollrath, the Saline High School yearbook adviser on how different designs for our style guide would impact our book.
At the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Great Lakes Broadcast & Sports Media Academy on November 7, 2024, I practice my stand up skills by describing the weather details.
Brick by brick, layer by layer. It's takes a while to build up a whole team together. Granted, there will be some cracks along the way. But you have to be the brick layer, making sure the whole wall is made to stand unified. Yearbook works on a deadline system where students work with mini-deadlines before the big one so that all their work get in on time or early, if they choose to. Video News, on the other hand, works a completely different way for deadlines.
On Wednesday, we plan out our news packages and in-studio roles. From 12/5 to 12/13, students work on their packages with mini deadlines like rough cuts, and anchor script is due for the producer to review before moving forward. The next week, we work on rehearsing on 12/16, recording the show on 12/17, and review the show on 12/18 and start the cycle all over again.
Workshops and Conventions
Workshops and Conventions
I felt that I could never know everything, even if it sounded like I did. That's one of the main reasons why I loved going to different conventions and workshops so that I could learn more and more about the journalism world.
Jostens Summer Workshop 2024 - 6/17/2024
Jostens Summer Workshop 2024 - 6/17/2024
Before becoming an editor, some of the 2025 editors attended this workshop to build out style guides and first few spreads for the visual section of the book. Pictured is Jeff Moffitt, a creative consultant for Jostens describing how visual design for certain dividers run with the theme of the entire book.
MIPA Fall Conference 2024 - 10/22/2024
MIPA Fall Conference 2024 - 10/22/2024
Wanting experience and learn from professionals, my yearbook and broadcast programs attended this conference to experience the tips and tricks for the journalism industry. In the photo, I attend the "Polish Your Portfolio" session with Kaitlin Edgerton, the Michigan State Director for JEA. This session was meant for preparing students for the All-MIPA Scholarship, while including the rubric for JEA's Journalist of the Year competition.
Setting Goals
Setting Goals
Every year, there is always room for improvement. No matter where it might be, it should always come with knowing that others want to set goals for the group to improve upon.
An example is the notes taken from the Jostens Spring Workshop 2024. Everyone put down their notes that we wanted to do for the next year.
Some notes that I highlighted were to improve on covering the high school staff, give staffers posters in the yearbook lab reminding them of the ABCD caption style, photography posters, and 12 different caption leads.
With these notes, we took them to heart and fulfilled these during the 24-25 school year.
FINAL THOUGHTS
FINAL THOUGHTS
A vital point of journalism is the ability to lead others to every deadline with ease. No matter how much it takes to gain the trust of others, you would always need help from others, whether teachers or students in order to lead proficiently. I know that I always need to improve in certain areas. But, keeping an established relationship with my staff and other editors always helps me to move forward and improve in what I do.
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