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Introduction
Let’s be real—I’m mostly a designer, but with being on a publication team also comes lots and lots of writing. While I will always enjoy creating new layouts that catch your eye, I love creating and uncovering unique stories. Whether that means interviewing random students in the halls, trying to come up with personal interview questions, or finding the perfect headline.
Last Year: Working as a Team Leader
As a team leader, I taught my group members how to format paragraphs, write interview questions, and most importantly how to solidify their goals as writers.
My goal as a writer is also to ensure that there is an equal inclusion of all grades, genders, races, etc. If I am covering a sports page, I include not just the senior captains, but also the hardworking underclassmen that play an important role on the team as well. Or, if I am covering an academic page, I shouldn't only include students, I should interview teachers as well. Everything needs a balance and I kept that in mind when I led my team.
Below is our shared document of all the spreads we worked on, the tasks we had to complete in order to submit the spread, and simply all of the content that we gathered. I tried to keep it organized and easy to follow for my team members to understand their tasks.
Paragraphs I Have Written
When writing interview paragraphs onto my spreads I always ensure that I use a good variety of quotes, and express formality by referring to the individual by their last name. I also try to aim to achieve a story that I will know is personal and real due to background knowledge. For both Grace and Kaveri (shown below) I followed their music journey and carefully chose them as interviewees due to my observations of their passions in music.
Music Spread: Junior Grace Dempsey finds great enjoyment from concerts and has been to 11 concerts in total. Dempsey has many musical artists that she admires, and seeing them "in real life is so exciting and surreal." One of her most memorable experiences was during the Boy Genius concert in September. With special guests, album announcements, and being able to physically touch Phoebe Bridgers, the show "was really special." "That still doesn’t feel real to me," Dempsey says. Aside from the artist's performance, Dempsey shares that "meeting people who love the same music as you is one of the best parts of going to shows."
Music Spread: During the insightful interaction with Kaveri Krishnamoorthy, she shared that Taylor Swift is one of her favorite artists, and she values her greatly. Krishnamoorthy "respects Swift as a songwriter" due to her ability to write a song or album for every instance. As stated, Swift has a "vast discography" allowing her songs to become very relatable no matter the circumstance. Not only does Krishnamoorthy respect her as a songwriter but also a businesswoman. Krishnamoorthy shares that Swift is "very smart in the music industry". She has dealt with a lot in the industry, but stays "persistent and determined" and Krishnamoorthy admires her for that.
Interview Questions
When formatting interview questions, I aim to craft questions that encourage insightful and real responses. Or in some cases, I will tweak the questions to match the student's experience. My approach with these questions is to foster engaging conversations that uncover meaningful stories.
What tech-engineering classes have you taken? Which one was your favorite and why?
What is something you made/learned in one of the tech engineering classes that you are most proud of?
How do you connect with others through tech-engineering classes?
If you have taken multiple tech classes, what made you want to continue taking them?
What makes your tech class unique?
What have you learned from this class?
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