The Dust Has Settled

It’s done.

The Yearbook has been submitted.

The Avengers have defeated their enemies, and all is once again quiet and peaceful in the world.

But my work isn’t over yet. Just as a fire crew must train to be ready for the next fire, just as a team of superheroes must sharpen their powers and teamwork to be prepared for the next supervillain, so must I train my staff to be ready for next year. Now that the book has been submitted, it’s spring training time in the Yearbook world. Our Herff Jones representative, Mimi Orth, has several workshops and teas/lunches that are meant to train editors and staff members. You may be wondering, “But Elijah, if the yearbook’s done, what the snozzberry is everyone doing during the elective?” I’ll happily answer that question, Willy Wonka.

We, the Avengers, have defeated Loki, H.Y.D.R.A., Ultron, and Thanos (Deadlines 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively).

Currently, the staff is deep into Fakeline training. Fakeline is a genius little project, and it is what it sounds like. It’s a fake deadline (former EIC Elissa Fultz coined the term), and it simulates what editors go through during yearbook camp, except Fakeline is much more gracious and spans about a month (unlike yearbook camp’s 5-day length). Malorie and I divided the underclassmen staff into three groups (the seniors get to sit back and relax). The three prime candidates to succeed me as Editor-in-Chief are in charge of these groups. Each group has to create their own theme packet, and basically brainstorm an idea for a whole new yearbook. They have to create a theme that IPoly students would be able to relate to, something that embodies the IPoly spirit for that year. They also have to create a cover, opening spread with opening theme copy, three content spreads, endsheets, and ideas for alternative coverage modules. At the start of each block, I give a lesson to help the Fakeline groups in developing their themes, and sometimes Strand takes the opportunity to help here too. Elective blocks have been structured as follows: Theme/copy/design/photo lesson for 15 min., Fakeline worktime and check in on all the groups/offer feedback, then for the last 10 min. I have a classwide recap. The most creative and most viable theme packet wins, and the group gets... something. Haven’t really decided what the prize will be yet. But it’ll be awesome.

This is team leader Madee Doctor, with the yearbook resident artificial plant, Robert Plant.

This is also the time of year where we do more staff bonding activities. Every year, we always try to sprinkle more ice breakers and fun activities throughout the year to keep things like, but with our small staff elective times almost always end up being work blocks. The editors and I are working on planning a staff laser tag day, we may go bowling, and we’ve even been able to do more fun ice breakers.

My reign as EIC is coming to an end sooner than I thought. As I train my staff, I see innovative, bright, fresh minds, who I feel safe leaving the yearbook legacy to. We have some promising underclassmen on staff. The future of yearbook is bright.

The Avengers have assembled. And we're ready to take on tomorrow.

Blog 19: Independent Component 2

LITERAL

A ) “I, Elijah Garcia, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 31 hours of work.”

B ) The following sources helped me in the completion of this independent component:

• Dodd, Julie. "7 tips for starting your own magazine." ThoughtsOnTeaching, 20 Jun. 2013. Web.

• Newell, Susan. "How to Start a High School Newspaper." schooljournalism.org. ASNE's Youth Journalism Initiative, n.d. Web.

• Strand, Shawn. Mentor.

C ) My Independent Component 2 Log can be found in the sidebar of my blog, or by clicking this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14sU5AIA8UI23SbV8Ku4E95j5MSeMrKp00dYnnbcYhmg/edit#gid=0

D ) I have founded and run IPoly’s first student-run magazine (well, first to my knowledge). I have recruited a staff, developed the artistic and journalistic vision for the publication, designed spreads, and managed the staff in general as we worked towards the completion of each publication. By the time I submit this independent component, my staff and I will have completed two issues of “Ink&Paper” Magazine, one issue for March and another for April, but  The magazine staff has received club certification, and is set up in a format that would allow for this club to continue after I graduate, for years to come.

INTERPRETIVE

It isn’t easy to create, manage, and publish a journalistic publication. It takes time to gather a staff and to generate content that is both unique and meaningful to the target audience, which is the IPoly student body in this case. Once the content has been created (all of the interviews have been documented, copy has been written, photos have been either taken or, if found, properly attributed), then all that’s left is to design the spreads and cover. Designing takes an especially long amount of time, because photos must be arranged in a visually appealing manner, and copy must be placed in a way that makes it readable yet interesting. Once everything is actually complete, the publication must be reviewed by the staff and analyzed to ensure it’s safe to be published.

I have posted a link to the Ink&Paper account on issuu.com, which will serve as evidence of the 30 hours of work.

APPLIED

This independent component looks at my EQ, “What is the most effective method of managing a yearbook staff, while promoting morale and the success of the book?”, from a different angle. While I wasn’t managing a yearbook staff, I was managing the magazine club staff. The objectives of both are similar, in that they set out to produce a journalistic publication focused on students. The difference with this independent component is that my staff of 8 others, plus my co-captain Maylon, all had to put in special effort into joining. This isn’t for a grade or for pay, they joined because they wanted to make a great magazine (I’ve yet to tell them that Strand will be rewarding them with community service hours). The motivation and dedication of my staff serves as reinforcement of my first answer, “A successful editor-in-chief develops a shared vision with his or her staff, using the philosophy of employee engagement.” My staff and I developed this magazine’s format and agreed on what we would cover in the content sections. Since everyone was equally involved and had an equal say in how the magazine was run, nobody really shirked their work. There haven’t been any personal conflicts that have needed resolving, unlike in yearbook. Also, everyone already in the fields they chose to work in, so dealing with my third answer (which has to do with training) wasn’t an issue. The designers already knew how to work with InDesign, and our photographer has had ROP experience. They were all dedicated, and though we haven’t advertised the magazine as well as we could have, we created a product that we’re all proud of. That checks off “promoting morale” and “success of the [product].”