2021 Michigan Journalist of the Year Portfolio
Leadership and
Team Building
To say my path to leadership on The Tower was an unconventional one would be an understatement. After my freshman year as a staff writer-- which felt more like a rite of passage than a duty-- rather than taking the traditional route of spending a year designing pages or editing content, I jumped straight into the role of The Tower's graphics manager when my predecessor-- a senior who had held the position for three years-- graduated.
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Graphics Manager
2018 - 2019
After a successful few weeks of creating graphics, collaborating with page designers, and communicating with reporters regarding how their written content would translate visually, I began to notice how the very curriculum of Grosse Pointe South's journalism program affected the balance of staff skills-- particularly graphic design. While Honors Journalism was never without an intense InDesign bootcamp or copyediting lesson plan, very few students understood the software necessary to create infographics and illustrations, resulting in me creating upwards of ten graphics at a time for just one issue.
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Though the artist in me was more than content to illustrate all class period, I knew the "just ask Eva" practice would eventually prove unsustainable, as well as stunt the growth of the entire publication.
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In an effort to use the conflict as an opportunity to teach and inspire, I created a graphics manual that covered everything from "graphics etiquette" to how to independently create graphics. Coupled with my "Crash Course to Graphics" PowerPoint, which I presented to staffers during my class period, I singlehandedly opened the door for even the least artistically-inclined student to get involved in the visual side of The Tower. Following my efforts, I was able to form a strong graphics team of approximately five staffers, one of whom would later go on to become my successor.
Though I am proudest of my contributions to expanding the artistic community within The Tower, my skills allowed for a period of experimental page design that no longer focused on simply fitting in as much content as possible-- dominant images, color schemes, and using graphics as an entry point to increase our readership was the next big thing.
For example, front pages went from this...
... to this CSPA Silver Crown Award-winning page!
And feature pages went from this...
... to this eye-catching, NSPA-recognized page!
Supervising Editor-at-Large:
Key Communicator
2019 - 2020
Supervising Page Designer Jackson Jogan and I deliver daily editor announcements to the staff. By speaking directly to staffers at the start of each class, staffers are made repeatedly aware of which leadership members are present, the progress of the week's content (fun fact: The Tower works on three issues at a time!), and what steps students can take in order to have a productive class period.
After being promoted to the traditionally senior-held position of Supervising Editor-at-Large as a junior, I was able to meet the daunting task of serving as a member of the leadership team by cultivating my own style of leadership.
By instating daily check-ins with each staff member to delivering editor announcements, my time as a supervising editor can be defined by nothing but communication. Eager to use my position to create a more inclusive and integrated staff environment, I established the practice of reviewing mark-ups with staff members in a one-on-one, constructive conversation, rather than sticking to the previous practice of submitting completed mark-ups to our adviser for grading purposes. In doing so, I was able to hear more immediate feedback from my staffers, and use these same comments to improve our subsequent issues. Moreover, staffers who were previously inexperienced in design or copyediting were now able to engage with these skills in a casual manner with a seasoned leadership member, and some even went on to become next year's copyeditors and page designers.
"T" is for Tower-- and Team!
Although the pandemic brought planned "Tower bonding events" to an abrupt halt-- namely the staff-wide field trip to the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association's Spring Conference-- the first semester still allowed for fun and engaging team bonding. Be it paper plate awards at the annual Tower Christmas Party or indoor Nerf battles, The Tower staff understands the importance of working hard and playing harder.
Right over left, always!
Associate Editor: Leader on the National Stage
2020 - 2021
Though my time as The Tower's Associate Editor didn't officially start until this past September, I began "training" for the role as early as June through my participation in the 2020 Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference. Honored with the chance to represent not just The Tower, but the entire state of Michigan, I took every opportunity afforded to me to receive feedback and assess The Tower's content and direction. For example, in a conference session outlining the potential of digital media in the world of journalism, WMOT Roots Radio leader Val Hoeppner commended The Tower for our #StayAtHome series, a collection of staff profiles intended to connect The Tower to their readership during the quarantine-defined spring; our work was seen as innovative and, above all else, "clickable." Hoeppner also suggested we take inspiration from our fellow student newspapers to create more interactive digital content; bringing these invaluable notes back to the newsroom, The Tower's Instagram feed has more polls, infographics, and student features than ever.
The Tower went on to receive further national recognition in Journalism Education Today's Fall 2020 Issue, in which Karl Grubaugh described The Tower as "a clear leader" in coronavirus coverage of all forms. Noting how his praise was specifically directed towards our adeptness at localizing national issues, I made clear to staffers early on in our class-wide story pitches to, when in doubt, turn to national news that matters; we were particularly successful in these endeavors when localizing the 2020 election, the storming of the U.S. Capitol, and the effects of quarantine on mental health.
Back to Basics
With the start of the school year fast approaching, my fellow leadership members and I set out to ensuring that The Tower's newest staff members didn't get lost in the digital fray-- especially after a virtual second semester unfortunately cancelled the annual "Honors J Issue," where incoming Tower staffers design, copy edit, and publish an entire issue of The Tower themselves.
In order to accomplish this goal, we all recorded digital crash courses pertaining to different phases of the publication process-- not unlike the crash course I created during my time as the graphics manager!
In under ten minutes, I delivered a clear presentation that reinstated to staffers new and old of the importance of independence and self discipline during the writing process-- especially when meeting the word count is easier than checking the quality of one's AP style.
Digital Deadline
Though leadership introductions and cheeky reminders of the dos and don'ts of Tower are easy enough, I knew the biggest hurdle to ensuring a smooth publication season would be the operation of deadline. In-person deadlines were the sources of vital opportunities for staff interactions, quality control, and teaching moments necessary to the preparation of the next year's leadership team. Without the artificial structure created by our beloved newsroom whiteboard, even the best of Zoom deadlines would feel disjointedly alien.
As the chair of the Editorial Board, I know how much time it takes to publish an issue of The Tower "the right way," with my Mondays starting at 6 a.m. to make it to our bright and early EB meetings and ending as late as 10 p.m.-- would The Tower even survive being operated remotely?
To remedy this problem before it arose, I created a virtual version of that same progress whiteboard on Google Sheets, allowing both staffers and leadership alike to monitor the progress of any given issue and quickly address lagging pages, if any. This method was incredibly successful, and has been implemented for every issue of The Tower published this year.
Passing The Torch
With the pandemic bringing a dramatic decrease in enrollment in Honors Journalism, the 2021-2022 staff will be operating with fewer staffers than ever before. In an effort to recover these lost staffers, I led a virtual "Why Honors Journalism?" chat with Brownell Middle School's eighth graders. Over the course of the presentation, I answered questions ranging from "why should I take another English class?" to "what does it mean to be a Tower staffer?" The success of the presentation came down to my desire to not persuade, but rather encourage the younger generation that The Tower isn't just a journalism class or even just a high school newspaper-- it is a gateway into one of the most rapidly evolving fields today.
One Issue At A Time
Before I even began my tenure as Associate Editor, I knew there would be weeks where my responsibilities as an editor would have to supersede my goals as a journalist, specifically my personal desire to have at least one article or illustration in every issue of The Tower.
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But how could I do that and still manage my primary role as a leader?
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To the left, one is able to see my step-by-step process behind the illustration of the 2020-2021 nameplate-- located across the top of every issue of The Tower.