Editing, Leadership and Team Building
It was difficult to step up the role of editor-in-chief of a staff of 70, especially as the only junior. At first, I struggled to assert myself and gain respect from my fellow editors and staff. I found strength in quiet leadership. From personal daily check-ins to answering questions about assignments, I focused on building up my staff from within. I soon became an outspoken leader. I walked each staffer through their assignment in front of the class, giving them the premise of what to focus on in stories and recommending sources. I held my staffers accountable, asking them to redo interviews when they had limited quotes and sitting with them while they completed missing work. I even started cracking jokes about silly spelling mistakes I myself had made. As I became more of a person than an editor, people became more comfortable approaching me with questions.
What my co-editors have to say
“It’s her dedication, kindness and patience that make her one of a kind. Her dedication extends beyond herself. As former editor-in-chief of our high school’s yearbook, I often tasked Zana with yearbook sports stories. I quickly learned she was meant for it but so much more than 300-word football season recaps. She was meant to write news. My senior writers all wanted her abilities. Truly, she was our best. Not only would she do her assignments, but she would also pick up the slack for others. She would spend countless days of her spring break at school helping me edit pages, spell check and check names, all while balancing her other activities and journalism work.”
—Maya Smith, former co-editor in chief of The Red & Black
“She always worked to make sure her stories were improving. Even though her first article was a hit, she continued wanting to raise the bar and quality of her work. Her work ethic is infectious and made me want to improve my writing skills.
During her second year on staff, Zana became an editor-in-chief of our newspaper. Working with her team, they were able to get more issues out than in recent years, a major success for our staff. She helped edit my stories. I went to her first when I was nervous, and she made me comfortable showing my work to others.”
​—​​​Avery Sloyer, co-editor in chief of The Red & Black​
“Zana is one of the hardest working students in our school and handles it all with an incredible amount of courage and humility. As a young journalism student, I was eager to learn from her seemingly effortless leadership skill in our classroom. In the chaotic buzz of staff assignments and deadlines, Zana could remain collected and organized, even as she took on her editor role for the newspaper, arguably the most demanding of publications. She was crucial for keeping the staff on track with assignments and encouraging newer recruits. In writing, she gravitates toward the difficult, controversial and deeply impactful stories with a skill and voice that few high school writers can
articulate with such grace.”
—Ashlyn Tell, co editor-in-chief of lhsbudget.com
“What truly stands out about Zana is her ability to support and uplift others. She is always ready to lend a hand, offering help and encouragement to her staff and can always be counted on to stay positive and focused, no matter how much she has on her plate. Zana is an incredibly dedicated, talented and reliable person. Whether it's through her work in journalism, her academics or her support for others, she consistently goes above and beyond. I have full confidence that she will continue to excel in anything she sets her mind to.”
—Bryndal Hoover, co-editor in chief of The Budget
Organization
With three different hours, it is extremely tricky to distribute assignments between each publication. That's why we have a couple systems to keep us in check.
Switching Systems
This year we had an unprecedented problem with our assignment process. Our old platform Trello was limited to 10 creators, making it unusable for our staff of 70.
Trello allowed us to create boards with everyone's assignment on their own card. It also allowed us to display images directly on cards, making it easy for staffers to complete captions. All they had to do was see if they knew a person in the image.
As we scrambled to find an alternative, we discovered Basecamp, which, similar to Trello, uses virtual boards and cards to organize material.The only problem was that there was no way to display images in the same way that Trello did. We devised a plan to transfer our captions system to Google Drive. We created a folder with blank templates for photo editors to upload to. Templates are labeled by event, date and photographer. Staffers can scroll through all of the uncompleted captions and see a small preview of the photo displayed. Once a staffer picks a photo to caption, they will find a clear set of instructions for how to write a caption.
New Assignment/CaptionSystem
Staff List
We have a large Google spreadsheet to detail assignments. Here, we can assign each staffer an editor, assign assignments to specific publications and mark the status of a staffers progress on their assignments. The weekend before the start of the cycle, each publications editors go to make sure they have the content they need assigned. All editors meet the Monday morning of the first cycle to make sure everyone has something to do. This usually involves a lot of reorganizing to make sure that each writing assignment has art, each graphic designer is doing a graphic and spread for the same page, and taking into account staffers who ether struggle to get work done on time, out of town or sick.
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I try to consider the needs of everyone on my staff. While deciding on assignments, I make sure to note who has been doing well on their assignments and who is struggling. This way I can give them an easier assignment or sometimes a "catchup" cycle where they can work on their previous assignment.
The Cycle System
We run on a two-week cycle system for staffers. Every two weeks they get a new assignment for one or more publications. However, we as editors have a more complex system to keep track of. There are eight cycles a semester, from Cycle 1A to Cycle 4B.
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Every staffer including writers, designers and photographers will get a new assignment every week, but the publications have a separate cycle system. During the “A” cycles, yearbook editors prioritize design assignments, and the newspaper focuses on writing. This means that all writers will primarily be assigned newspaper stories and all designers will be assigned a yearbook assignment. During "B" cycles newspaper editors will give all the designers a newspaper spread while the yearbook gives all writers a yearbook story.
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This system allows for each print publication to get out all of the content they need. The newspaper can produce enough content for a new issue each month and the yearbook can make enough content for the long awaited end of year memento.
The Assignments Process
1. Basecamp
All assignments are digitally programmed into Basecamp for each staffer. We as editors make sure the card has a link to their template and detailed instructions on their assignment.
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All cards are in a to-do list column labeled "Current Assignments." Through the cycle, we instruct staff members to move their cards between lists for different stages of the editing process.
2. Check-ins
Throughout the cycle, it is important for us to stay in touch with our staff. I like to do daily check-ins with the people in my journalism hour to see how their work is progressing. However, not everyone is in the same hour. This forces me to reach out to staffers over Webex to check on the progress of their assignments, especially if I don't see any activity on their templates. I also check in with staffers to see how they are doing outside of journalism. This can help me understand when a staffer is struggling in their personal life and make decisions that are best for the staffer themselves.
3. Deadline checks
Although the cycle being two weeks, my fellow editors and I do weekly check-ins with staffers on the progress of their work. This is an opportunity for us to help staffers find sources, jumpstart them on their first draft, and more. After checking in, we mark the status of the staffer on the staff list.
4. The Editing Process
When the cycle is over, staff must move their cards into either the “Past Due” list on Basecamp or “Please Edit Round 1.” From there, we can make the first round of edits either on the template or work with the staffer directly to help improve their work.
For a more in-depth look at my editing see my editing process
5. Moving through rounds
After making the first round of edits, me and the other editors move the cards to the "Make Corrections" round. This process is repeated again by a second editor before moving it to “Final Check”. From there the work will either be published online or prepared for the more complicated process of being incorporated into print publications.
Publication layout
Basecamp is also helpful for organizing the 32 pages of content we produce every month for the newspaper.
It allows us make sure that we have a visual component, a sidebar, a story and a staffer assigned for each page of our publication on designated newspaper planning boards.
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Additionally, this system makes it easy for designers to find the content they need to design pages.​
Webex
Webex is our main form of communication with our staff. From daily announcements, to personal check ins, it is the best school administered system for chatting with each other.
Announcements
I often like use Webex for group announcements to remind staff about deadlines, opportunities for leadership and sometimes how our systems work. For example, many people on staff were forgetting a few basic writing principals as the year progressed. I put out a group reminder of how to write for journalism 101.​
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Check ins
​I also use Webex for more personal reasons. Last year, my dad had a life threatening illness that led him to be hospitalized for six weeks. During that time I struggled a lot with academic motivation because of how much emotional energy was taken up by my home life. I know what it's like to feel alone during a difficult time and need extra care and grace when it comes to school work. That's why I always check in to make sure that my staff are ok at home because I know what it's like to not be. I often reach out to staff members privately, especially when I notice a change in their work pace. This way I can help communicate their needs to the rest of the editors and we consider their assignments accordingly
Middle School Media Fest
For the past two years, I have helped organize the Middle School Media Fest. This program allows middle school students in journalism classes from across town to visit the high school and participate in a journalism bootcamp run by the journalism staff.
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We host four different sessions: reporting, photography, design and broadcast. By the end, students will have produced their own publications and hopefully found a love of journalism.
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Working with any middle school student can be a challenge. Adults usually have a hard enough time trying to get them to participate in class, let alone anything else. That is why it amazes me every time how willing so many kids that age are willing to listen to us as high schoolers, only a couple years their senior as we herd students from room to room, encourage them to participate, and push them to produce their mini publications. It truly shows how journalism can unleash a passion they didn't know they had.
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For me, the purpose of this program is to get younger students involved in journalism. I love seeing the look in their eyes as they ask a good interview question, or watch them run around the football field with a camera. They are the future of journalism.
Staff Bonding
Staff Wedding
One of my favorite things about being an editor is bonding with staff. After pestering our staffers about deadlines and captions, we want to celebrate the hard work that they put into our publications. At the beginning of every year, we make a vow to commit to journalism til death (graduation) do we part. We are christened with pop rings, have a legal minister (a school administrator) officiate and celebrate holy matrimony with our publications.
Junior Zana Kennedy and seniors Natasha Torkzaban and Maya Smith hold up their new edible bling after their wedding to the 2024 journalism staff
Reciting their vows, the fourth hour 2024 journalism staff promise to dedicate themselves to journalism for better or for worse.
Photo by Lydia Folks
Scavenger Hunt
At the beginning of second semester, editors collaborated to teach new staff the foundational skills of writing, editing and photography. Because we were constantly looking for ways to spice it up. After much discussion, we organized a scavenger hunt designed to teach new staffers about our student locator list, Basecamp boards and other basic staff resources.
Working on her phone, sophomore Mimi Rosado Schmitt solves clues for the first journalism scavenger hunt.​
Photo by Piper Journey
Thanksgiving Feasts
Food is fuel for most people, but food is life for journalists. After a long day of writing or designing there is no better feeling than sitting down with a big plate of food. That's why at Thanksgiving we make sure to honor that need. Everyone on staff brings a dish, and we celebrate our own Thanksgiving. I usually contribute my (in my opinion) perfect carrot cake. In recent years, we have also had graphic design contests to make the best turkeys. (I have been unfortunate enough to be featured in some designs).
Preparing to feast, advisor Barbra Tholen starts setting out platters of food.
Photo by Bryndal Hooever
Festivus
Usually by the end of the first semester, all we want to do is complain. So we took inspiration from the show “Seinfeld.” Instead of celebrating Christmas, we celebrate Festivus. We sign the Christmas pole, write editorials to air our grievances, and act out our feats of strength through arm wrestling.
Signing the pole, senior Rhubarb Brubacher continues the tradition of making a mark for all the graduating journalism classes to remember her and the rest of the 2025 seniors
Photo by Avery Sloyer
Editor bonding
In order to be a united front in the classroom, we have to be united outside of school hours. From kayaking trips, to staying up to watch the election, to meeting up over breaks, I prioritize true connection through our friendship.
The 2024 journalism editor-in-chiefs pose for the camera before they get too wet from kayaking. The purpose of this activity was to bond before the school year was underway.
Photo by Maya Smith
