The Legacy Initiative

I’ve been thinking a lot about legacies this year. As Editor in Chief, it’s kind of my duty to leave a good legacy, and to make sure the juniors are prepared to captain the ship when we leave. They’re very capable photographers, and they can write excellent copy, but there’s one major hole in the juniors’ expertise: there are no designers. Cesar, Jason, and I are all seniors, and we’re the only designers on the staff. You can imagine how disastrous this would be if we did nothing about it. This is why we three designers have begun training the junior editors in design.

How did we come to this roadblock? I think it started last year. We had an astoundingly low number of sophomore staffers, and about half of the few sophomores we did have either left the elective or left the school. I began my design training in sophomore year, and the experience I’ve had since has given me the design skills I have today. My biggest issue with training is that, next year, there won’t be a single experienced designer on staff. We really have to get cracking on training so they can be prepared for whatever obstacles the juniors might face next year.

The software we’re using to create the yearbook this year, eDesign, is great for beginners. Even if it can be extremely slow at aggravating. As I’ve explained in an earlier blog post, eDesign is basically a (very) stripped down version of Adobe InDesign. Since there are less functions, it’ll be easier for the juniors to learn the ins and outs of the software.

Apprentice Madee Doctor logging on to eDesign like a champ.

In order to make scheduling less of an issue, the designers and I split up our “pupils” and are going to teach each one-on-one. I will be coaching Madee Doctor, while Cesar and Jason will teach Jake Taylor and Julianne General (respectively). I already assigned Madee to a spread in the yearbook, and she seems to be making good progress. One thing I’ve made sure to do is show her what good design looks like. I’ve attending several Yearbook Workshops, and one lesson that’s been consistent through them all has been to find inspiration. You can’t create a great spread out of thin air. And if you do, chances are it’s not that great. Not as great as it could be, at least. Before I started training Madee, I had her bring me examples of what she considered good design, and then I had her recreate the spreads she found on eDesign. This is a training technique called “style imitation”, and it helps in the long run with consistency in the book.

A page from Wired Magazine that inspired the design for our foods of iPoly spread.

This past semester, I’ve been making sure I leave a memorable legacy by creating an awesome book. Now, I have to secure my legacy. I have to ensure that I leave,  I leave a staff that’s more than capable to hold their own. This is the halfway point of the year. There's still a long road ahead. We’re halfway there. Livin’ on a prayer.

I like to think of myself as Gandalf and the staff are the Fellowship, and I'm leading them towards... a good book. 

We Beat Loki!

We did it, everyone. We beat Loki. No, not the Nordic supervillain from the Marvel Universe; Loki is the nickname we’ve given Deadline 1 of the yearbook. And all of Deadline 1 has been submitted! *insert cheering crowd* There are some beautiful spreads this deadline, and the opening copy just screams IPoly. Although there were a few stumbling blocks on the way here, overall things went pretty great.

It's a good thing we didn't actually have to take this guy on.

Now for a look at eDesign’s handy dandy Coverage Report (I love eDesign so much). In just this first deadline we were able to get 29% of students covered at least twice, and one third of the school population is a great start. However, there’s still a lot of ground to cover... regarding coverage. As you can see in the image below, most of the status bar is still in the red (meaning they've either been covered once or zero times). At this rate, however, everyone should be covered by Deadline 3. My goal is to ultimately have everyone covered 3 times (which is green). There will be a few elusive people, but I think this goal is very achievable.

Goal: getting this bar to be as green and yellow as Loki's costume.

Work has already begun on Deadline 2. You may notice a certain theme among the deadline names. The Avengers are assembled, geared up and ready to continue making this year’s book the greatest IPoly has seen. Until next time.

Psh, it's not like I love Marvel and this was my idea or anything.

Blog 10: EQ

1.   "I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ."

2.  Review the following EQs and

• Tell us if each meets the rule of three.
• Tell why they do or don't.

a.  What is the most important factor in healthy weight loss?

• Doesn’t meet rule of three; not specific enough

b.  What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation?

• Meets rule of three; it allows for a broad amount of research, takes a certain stance, and is specific enough for clarity

c.  What is most important in creating a hairstyle that best satisfies a customer?

• Meets rule of three; it allows for a broad amount of research, takes a certain stance, and is specific enough for clarity

d.  How can an anesthesiologist best treat chronic pain?

• Doesn’t meet rule of three; not specific enough, it’d just be a list of facts

3.  Based on your review of the rule of 3 and your experience with assessing four EQs, please write another draft EQ for your senior project.  

What is the most effective method of managing a yearbook staff, which promotes morale and the success of the book?

Blog 9: Lesson 1 Reflection

1. Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your Lesson 1 Presentation and why?

I’m most proud of the fact that I remembered to cite all my sources, and I pretty much gave all the information I intended to give.

2. Questions to Consider

  a. What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 1 Presentation (self-assessment)?

  AE    P       AP    CR    NC

  b. Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 1 component contract.

Professionalism: I spoke clearly enough for the class to hear, maintained eye contact with the audience as well as proper posture, and made sure to engage the audience by asking how they were following along.

Justification of Foundation: I constantly referenced my research, published sources, and my interview, as was expected of me.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 1?

Right off the bat, my puns worked to engage the audience. They may have been bad, but I had everyone’s attention once I finished my hook. After that, I’d say my knowledge of my topic and experience as an editor-in-chief definitely helped me make time and convey what I was trying to convey.

4.  (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 1?
If I had a time machine, I would rework my presentation to be topic-to-topic, instead of article-to-article. I feel like going by articles confused some people, because a few articles basically said the same thing about certain topics (like communication). The third quarter of my presentation is where I struggled most, because I didn’t take the time to dive as deep into “Shared Vision” and “Employee Engagement” as I should have, and I ended up with more time than I anticipated.

The Fall Design Clinic: A Long Meeting

As a yearbook veteran, I’ve attended three fall design clinics. These workshops are for editors and the more dedicated staffers, and basically give yearbook staffs a chance to show off the progress they’ve made with their respective books. The IPoly books usually fare relatively well at these clinics. 

Setting up before the clinic, with Malorie and J-Wu.

However, the main purpose of the fall design clinics are to receive feedback from industry professionals, such as Paul Ender, Pete LeBlanc, and Mimi Orth (they’re big yearbook people, I don’t expect you to know them). We’ve always gotten great advice on how to improve the spreads and our opening copy, and the same goes for this year. Overall, the gurus (as we call them) loved our "Misfit Right In" theme, and how well the design team tied it into each spread. They also complimented the voice, rhythm, and the fun feel of our opening copy. So all in all it was a productive clinic, and quite possibly the best I've been to. There is much promise in the yearbook staff this year.

Mimi Orth, our Herff Jones representative and savior.

Why the title? This year’s clinic ran from 9 am to 4 pm, and I had been there since 8 am to help set things up and make sure everything was in place. My breakfast of approximately 7 donuts (provided at the workshop) sustained me throughout the day.

I can just feel my teeth rotting away... worth it for the sugar rush

Blog 8: Research and Working EQ

1.  What is your working EQ?

•  How best can one manage an editorial staff, so as to promote efficiency and inspiration?

2.  Possible Answers:

•  An editor-in-chief should promote the concept of employee engagement among his or her staff.

•  Clear, concise expectations for the staff and the editors should be set, so everyone knows their role.

3.  What is the most important source you have used that has helped you come up with an answer to your working EQ?

•  Answer 1: The most important source I found supporting this is “What Is Employee Engagement”, an article from the renowned business magazine Forbes.

•  Answer 2: “YEARBOOK EDITORS: Effective Strategies” was extremely useful in finding this answer.

4.  Who is your mentor, or where are you doing mentorship, and how does what you are doing relate to your working EQ?

•  I’ve previously listed Yearbook adviser Rebecca Chai as my mentor, but I may have to change this. Since Ms. Chai is a Yearbook teacher at a different high school, I can’t exactly work under her. I don’t know who I can talk to for other mentorship options, and would like some help figuring this out. I believe last year’s Editor-in-Chief was able to do her mentorship in the yearbook elective when our Herff Jones representative, Mimi Orth, would visit. However, this would not be an option for me as Mimi has opted out of mentoring this year.

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Approval

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

• I shall be overseeing and helping in the completion of the first deadline for yearbook, which consists of 16 spreads (or 32 pages). I will be managing the yearbook staff during elective and outside of class, by assigning stories, creating lessons, setting up progress meetings, and organizing a ladder (document that shows the sequence of spreads). I’ll especially help in the designing of these spreads, and guiding the staff in accomplishing their tasks.

2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

• As proof of my independent component, I will document work times and elective times through photographs and screenshots, which I shall link to on the blog. I’ll also post a link to view the finished deadline.

3. Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

• What I will be doing will help me apply everything I’ve learned through research to an actual editorial staff. As editor-in-chief, not only am I in charge of keeping the vision of the book consistent, but I have to maintain the efficiency and morale of my yearbook staff as well. I’ll be exposed to every aspect of publishing a yearbook, from an editor’s perspective, and all the challenges one must overcome to ensure the success of said publication.

4. Update your Senior Project Hours log.

• Senior Project Hours log has been updated.

eDesign

Although I have a mentor, I’ve been having some trouble actually figuring out what to do for my mentorship hours (since she’s a yearbook teacher, I wouldn’t exactly be able to go to her class to shadow/help). Therefore, the most I’ve been doing that can relate to my project is actually working on iPoly's yearbook.

This year, we made a massive change in software (from InDesign to the Herff Jones company’s eDesign). Even though this new eDesign is essentially a very stripped down version of InDesign, it has many, many benefits.

[Note: The small amount of features on the left-hand toolbar]

The most useful features of eDesign are the organizational features. Some might consider it the savior of yearbook. Since the entire program is browser based, the staff can access it anywhere with an internet connection. This solves a plethora of problems yearbook has had in the past, especially since we've only been able to get actual work done in class (where the computers are), and it solves the issue of file formats for different versions of InDesign.

The eDesign ladder is essentially a living book. That means we can see the entire book, all in one spot, and it updates in real-time. Here, and example for ya!

It's aliiiiive! And so organized. *tear*

This post is basically just gonna hype up eDesign.

Because it's amazing.

AND it keeps track of coverage in the best way possible. We uploaded a master list of the school to eDesign, and now we can tag people in photos (like Facebook) and the software keeps track of which pictures are being used in spreads, as well as who is in those pictures. This makes things much, much easier when it comes to coverage, because we can see who is in the book exactly how many times. Before, we kept a physical list of people, and had to mark of names with various colored pens, and as you can imagine it was hard to keep track of.

Everything's red right now because we're still working on inputting pictures into the spreads.

Well, that's it from me for now. I'm working on figuring out actual mentorship for my topic, but if anyone has suggestions, please contact me. I'd love some input.

Blog 6 - Second Interview Preparation

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?

My mentor is Ms. Rebecca Chai, and she works at Walnut High School as the Publications and English teacher.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

1. What were some struggles you faced when you first took on the Publications class?
2. Did you do any formal training with the Herff Jones company to prepare yourself to become an adviser?
3. In high school, did you participate in yearbook or the school newspaper?
4. What memories of your publications class are you most proud of?
5. What led you to become a teacher?
6. How have other advisers impacted your teaching, or otherwise inspired you? (if at all)

Blog 5 - Mentorship Reflection

1. Mentorship question: Describe your experience in how you found your mentorship?  If you haven't found one yet, describe your experience so far in the search of a mentor.

I struggled to find a decent mentor for my original topic, biomedical engineering with an emphasis on prosthetics. However, considering my status as the Editor in Chief of Yearbook, I decided to stick with Yearbook as my senior project (or Editorial Publishing). I’ve met my mentor at yearbook workshops in the past, but I accomplished my mentorship at the “Yearbooks at the Beach” 5-day long workshop in Long Beach. My mentor, Rebecca Chai, is the yearbook advisor for Walnut High School. Her publications staff has built a reputation of excellence among the yearbook community. The great part about my mentorship is that Walnut HS is only a few minutes away from iPoly, which saves me a good amount of stress.

2. Research question: What has been your most important article you have read so far and why?

The most important article I’ve read so far is called “Staff Development and Change Process: Cut from the Same Cloth.” It’s by Shirley M. Hord, who has worked extensively with the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory and has written several books on the topics of leadership and staff development. This article is really great because it cites multiple studies on staff developmental methods, and basically contains the sum of other articles I’ve found (backed by the aforementioned studies).

More Morale

One major thing my mentor has taught me so far is the importance of morale. If people don't like what they're doing and how they're being treated, they won't want to put effort into their work. I've also found a significant amount of research supported the idea that staff morale is one of the most important aspects of a successful... anything (crazy, huh?). She showed me a decent list of ways that I could raise morale in my own staff, but one of the most basic (and important) is to use icebreakers. 

“But Elijah, what’s an icebreaker?” I’m glad you asked, reader.

An icebreaker is what it sounds like... something to break the ice. They may or may not involve puns. Even though they sound relatively simple and unimportant, icebreakers are necessary to establish an early connection between you, your editors, and your staff. They’re especially effective when you gain new staff members. Every year in yearbook, we get a small group of freshmen who don’t exactly have the best idea of what to expect in the class. The icebreakers are a fun way to ease their nerves, and get them to bond with the experienced members. It’s always good to strengthen the bond of your current staff, too.

This is an example of one of the icebreakers we did on the first day of Yearbook (we adapted the colors a bit, but this is the gist):

Note: I'll be applying the lessons I learn in mentorship to Yearbook

Blog 4: Interview Preparation

1. I plan to interview my mentor, Rebecca Chai, the adviser of Walnut High School's publications class. The Walnut yearbooks have been respected and admired for a number of years for several reasons, and their publications class is run like a tight ship.

2. Required Questions:

• I'm interested in studying editorial publishing management. What can you tell me about it?
• From your perspective, what could I study that would be significant?
• Who else would you recommend I talk to?
• What kinds of places or activities do you recommend I do for the mentorship component?
• What books should I read in this field?

Additional Questions:

• What led you to become the adviser of the publications class?
• What’s one quality that a good manager/Editor-in-Chief must display every day to his/her staff? Why?
• In your experience, what have past Editors-in-Chief gone to do in college? Using the skills they learned from managing the staff.

Blog 3: Topic Choice and Working EQ

1. Managing an Editorial Publication

2. Working EQ:  How best can one manage an editorial staff, so as to promote efficiency and inspiration?

3. Yes, the WB is on the right hand side of this blog.

Summer Mentorship Component

Literal

1. The log of specific hours and description of my duties

2. What is the contact name & number of where you volunteered?       

Rebecca Chai

(909) 594-1333, ext. 34251

3. (Need to know) What questions were raised because of the 10 hours of experience?  List them.     

• What careers can one branch off towards, using skills learned in editorial publishing?
• How can I best handle difficult staff members?
• How do I balance being a strict leader and being a fun one?
• When do I transition the staff from training to working?

Interpretive

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

The most important thing I gained from my summer mentorship is how to handle leadership. I received advice from my mentor, as well as others who are in the same situation as me. They all showed me how not to abuse my authority, how to handle conflict resolution, and how to build up rapport with my peers, all of which can be taken and applied to my life in the future.

Applied

5. What is your senior project topic going to be?  How did what you did help you choose a topic?  Please explain.

My senior project topic is going to be Editorial Publishing. Since running a yearbook is basically like running a magazine or other print publication, there are many similarities as far as management, design, and content. This topic will be much less stress than what I previously wanted to do (Biomedical Engineering with a focus on Prosthetics), because I’ll be able to complete assignments as I work on the yearbook, since I’m the Editor-in-Chief. It was difficult to find a mentor in the biomedical field, which I wish to pursue as a career, and by choosing a yearbook-related topic I’ll be killing two birds with one stone this year.

2-Hour Presentations

1. What presentations did you see?
• Archaeology : Alicia Garcia
• Gracie Jiu Jitsu : Bryan Posada *
• Criminology : Analysa Gallegos *
• Forensic Science : Arianna Castellanos
• Defense Systems Engineering : Noah Nakielski *
• Graphic Design : Nathan Mira *
• Personality Disorders : Kimberly Gallardo
• Microbiology : Vanessa Machuca *
• Surfing : Garett Soapes *
• Bakery : Beladona Ontiveros
• Culinary Arts : Madisyn Delgado
• Linguistics : Lara McConnaughey *
• Advertising : Gabriela Murillo
• Nursing : Allyana Salud *
• Cake Decorating : Luz Cervantes
• Marine Biology : Felicia Stears

2. What questions do you have that haven't been answered about the senior project? This can be about the senior project in general, any components or about a presentation topic you saw or what they said.  
• What exactly does the Model Assembly component entail, as far as group work and city research?
• Are we allowed to have more than two mentors?
• Can we intern in one place during the summer, and another during the school year?
• How do you get a mentor who works at CalPoly?
• Some people said they found their internships at summer job fairs. What other opportunities were offered there?
3. What has the most important part of the senior project based on what you are seeing in the 2-hour presentations?
• According to what I've seen in the 2-hour presentations, the most important part of the senior project is passion. If the presenter is passionate about what they're presenting about, regardless if the subject is a hobby or career plan, then their overall experience will be much better. With this positive mindset toward the project, they're more likely to devote time and effort into their senior project, and this all culminates in the 2-hour presentations. People like Vanessa Machuca, Garett Soapes, and Lara McConnaughey were visibly passionate about their topics. Not only were their presentations some of the most engaging, but they also provided interesting and detailed information that clearly displayed the time they spent in research. From what I've heard, all three of these students passed, and Lara even got an E on her presentation. These facts are convincing evidence toward my theory.
4. What topic are you considering doing and why?
• I'm considering doing either Graphic Design or Biological Science.
• Graphic Design: I have experience with various styles of graphic design due to my involvement on the Yearbook design team. It's pretty fun, because I enjoy looking back on my work and taking in the aesthetics. Based on Nathan Mira's presentation, it seems like a viable topic that I can find ample amounts of research on.
• Biological Science: The career I plan on going into is Biomedical Engineering (this will also be my major in college). From what I've researched so far, it's best to have some form of medical/biology background when going into this major, because it can be quite competitive. I know that medical internships are possible, from Vanessa Machuca and Allyana Salud's presentations, but I missed the deadline to apply for most biomedical/medical summer programs (which were in March).
5. What are you doing for your summer mentorship?
• I'm still trying to find a decent medical/science program that will accept me, so I can use it for my summer mentorship (I'm determined, because this field will help me in the future). If all else fails, I have mentorships lined up for Graphic Design. My family friend has been a graphic designer for years, and has done work for Nike and Disneyland. I also have connections to the Graphic Design professor at the Art Institute in LA.