LEADERSHIP

This year, as Editor-in-Chief, my duties include:

Redesigning the printing process:
- New Tower Drive
- New page templates
- New Tower Adobe library
- New style guide
- New biweekly leadership schedule
Creating preplans and executing themed issues
Running story pitches and signups in class
Organizing and supervising editorial board meetings and deadlines
Working with staffers in class and at deadline to create the best possible product
- i.e. Page design, sourcing, AP Style, etc.
Dealing with staff issues assertively
- i.e. Replacing stories when originals fall through, in-person meetings to discuss concerns, etc.
Fostering relationships with staffers through "Staffer of the Week," individual compliments, mental health check-ins, etc.
- Contacting staffers when appropriate to check in about the status of their content → helping staffers come up with ideas and execute them
Middle school outreach program to feature middle school columns

PRE-EDITS

Here is a sample page I assisted one of our page editors with. My comments were the following:

I love this graphic, but I think it would be more effective horizontally. Do you think you could re-design it so it fits your page better?
- Another thing to consider is changing the colors. You don't have to stick to the color palette the original staffer chose. Maybe some greens would look nice?
Since you only have one story on this page, you probably want to include a drop cap, so it has a clearer hierarchy. I also think it would be really cool to color-drop from your re-designed graphic.
Additionally, since your page is a bit text-heavy, you could try breaking it up with a pull quote to make it easier on the reader's eyes.
Finally, once you're done re-designing the graphic, it would probably make the most sense to place it at the top of the page so that your most visually-appealing element is at the top. Again, emphasizing that visual hierarchy.

POST-EDITS

And here is the final page after my edits were incorporated. I think these changes make the page more effective as whole because it has a clearer visual hierarchy, and the text has more room to breathe without being crammed into a vertical graphic (especially with the inclusion of the pull quote). I also find the color palette to be more aesthetically pleasing on this page without the overly contrasting oranges and yellows.

PREPARATION

Prior to becoming Editor-in-Chief, I served as a copy editor and supervising copy editor, where my duties revolved around editing stories and giving out assignments to my copy editors as their supervising editor. Now that I am Editor-in-Chief, my role in the writing process has remained relatively the same, as I still edit and critique articles during content check-ins and at Monday deadlines.

In this photo, I'm showing one of our younger page editors how to color drop from a graphic element on InDesign. On this particular day, InDesign was being finicky, so I also showed this editor how to create a new color swatch in order to coordinate the drop cap with the desired color, as pictured.