Editing, Leadership, & Team Building
Before I begin, my staff took it upon themselves to attest to my leadership and team building. Here are a few.
Janeyliz Baez
Columns Editor
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"As a first-year writer in my school newspaper, Valerie guides me through every step of the way. From learning how to write stories for our website to how to properly perform as an editor, she has been able to teach me all the tips to ensure I have a successful year. Everyday, she stands in front of our classroom and addresses the new business we will be working on that day. Her confidence and enthusiasm is able to motivate all my peers and I to perform our very best. I can always count on her whenever I have an issue or a doubt and as a sophomore that hopes to pursue journalism as a future career, I have gained an unbelievable amount of knowledge and advice on how to achieve so successfully. In any room she stands in, Valerie is able to lead with her exceptional leadership skills and as an Editor-In-Chief."
Editing
Here is an example of a story I edited a few weeks ago. I've transferred my comments and edits from the Google Doc to this page.
Becoming a part of the fight for what everyone should have: Chonnalin Sumonthee
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In society, the everyday life the majority live is not given a second look or thought. Having healthcare, food, and clothes is so common, yet a forever dream for some. In today’s society, underserved communities continue to be ignored, just as much as they are helped. However, Chonnalin Sumonthee decided she would fight for the one thing that not everyone has: dental care, and go in a more unique direction.
As a “Charter starter” and graduating from PPCHS in 2019, Sumonthee reminisces about some of the special people at Charter like, “Mr. Bayer, Mrs. Invernizzi, Ms. Sunshine Phelps, Mrs. Santiago, and Mrs. Ciafre” and on her times at Charter doing “dance, volleyball, and volunteering with Mr. Garcia.” Volunteering throughout middle and high school in the Kevin Garcia Foundation with Mr. Garcia, Chonnalin helped with toy drives and also wrote a book with the foundation during her Junior and Senior years. She realized she “started loving the foundation with what they were doing, and it made me want to do more. I felt a sense of belonging.” While she didn’t know exactly what she wanted to do—possibly health—she always knew she just wanted to be with people. “I looked into Psychology/Psychiatry, but I realized how heavy it could be, and knowing that the emotions people share with you, you have to make a separation between your work and personal life,” Sumonthee shares. She looked at medicine, but it wasn't what her heart ultimately set on.
After graduating from college, the part of figuring out what she truly wanted to do finally came. While volunteering at the clinic, a heartfelt conversation changed everything. “I talked to this one patient, she had lost a lot of teeth when she was younger, and she didn't have the insurance to fix it. She said that she missed the masks during COVID because she could hide behind them and nobody could see the lack of teeth she had. When the dentist gave her a treatment plan, she hoped she could finally get the smile that she wanted. She wanted to finally be able to talk to someone and not have to hide behind a mask. That’s why I love dentistry, it goes both ways, the vulnerability of the patient and the dentist helps with everything.”
Sumonthee still felt something was missing. Her main factor in being in dentistry was nowhere to be found. She recalled a time when she realized “how many things people want to fix about themselves because it is the way they present themselves to the world,” she said, “and after a procedure, [patients] would talk about how happy and confident they are and it made me want to be a part of that journey with other people.” Dentistry also allows her to express what she is best at. “I can use tools and wax to make wax models. I like the flexibility dentistry has between science and art,” Chonnalin says.
Sumonthee discusses the differences she notices in how less fortunate people are treated. “I want to help underserved people because so many people that are in need are often overlooked and I want to make sure everyone gets it. It’s just giving care where you can and love when you can. They also always appreciate it and it makes me feel grateful hearing people say how I’ve made a difference and they feel better about themselves because of the treatment that I've provided them,” Sumonthee continues to speak passionately on what she dearly loves, “When I see clinics and see the amount of people that are there, it makes me see [how big] the number of dentists that aren't there to help the people.”
Sumonthee also notices the cultural aspect when it comes to treating underserved non-natives. “Many patients I’ve seen are immigrants. Many doctors can't communicate with them, so I want to use the Spanish-speaking skills I have gained to help them. I want to give them care and make sure everyone is receiving the care that they need. I want people to feel comfortable. Culture plays a big part, so I want to know more about people's culture and try to help them. One thing that has kept me going and that I feel has driven me throughout my life is that I need to keep working hard and treat people with respect.”
As her years of being on the last leg of her dental journey arrive, Sumonthee refers reflects on her time at dental school and how it is going. “I need the community. I can't do it alone. There are a lot of lectures where we get a lot of information at once, so it is hard. We do a lot of models, which is fun, but the tooth has so many anatomical features and grooves that it makes it complex.”
In the future, Sumonthee hopes to work in non-profit clinics or public health. With the journey that she has been on, she reflects,“[People would] doubt me on my dreams of becoming a dentist. There is a bad rap that people hear about health students being so competitive, but all the people I met in my pre-dental club were so nice and helpful.” But she lives by “If you have that spark you can’t hold out on it.” She nears the end of her journey, “I found my passion at Charter.”
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Nice headline! Let's brainstorm a headline that hints at the rest of the story. What about "Serving the underserved with a shiny smile: Chonnalin Sumonthee"?
Get to the point. I love your strong start, but we don't want to lose the reader! I would delete this, but maybe change your lead to something more niche.
Move this paragraph down and introduce Chonnalin as a person and her career, and then you can relate it back to her time at Charter. Start off with a quote or a memorable moment of hers.
What college? We need these specifics.
This sentence is a little wordy. Try limiting the "...ing" words! I promise it'll help.
I noticed that you alternate between Chonnalin and Sumonthee when addressing her. Pick one, typically her last name, to address her throughout the entire story.
Usually when you use [], it's to provide more context without changing the meaning of the phrase. This may work, but I think adding "how big" may affect what Chonnalin was trying to say.
Great sentence but show, don't tell!! ;)
You use lots of quote incorporation throughout the story but try writing more about what you learned about her.
Wordy sentence! I do the same thing sometimes. Maybe try, "Now wrapping of dental school, Sumonthee looks back on her soon-to-be dentist progress."
GREAT STORY! I love the powerful quote but I want MORE!
Team Building
Our 2023-24 Staff Video!
2023 FSPA State Convention!
Staff Spooky Baskets!
End of Year Ceremony!
Birthday Donuts!
FSPA 2022 District 7 Workshop!
Pizza Parties!
CHAT Jackets!
It's a Team Effort...
Our Group "Chat"s
Although not an original concept, we love our group chats. Like I always say, newspaper is more than a class or club. It's a lifestyle. At 2:00 PM when the bell rings, the news doesn't end. This is why we have our group chats. We typically use these group chats in order to convey reminders and important information that is urgent. Below are examples of what are not-so-ordinary group chats look like. From the first day of school, I make sure that my staff feels comfortable enough to speak their mind in our group chat. This is where editors can pitch story ideas for a writer to pick up or even just motivational messages! The dark green message bubble is me: the one who's always "hyping up" my staff. Every week I always send messages of encouragement because... newspaper can get difficult! It's true.
School Events
At Pines Charter, we have many school events that give student organizations the chance to market themselves to the younger classes and even parents.
The cardboard poster to the left has been a part of the CHAT since 2009. We always use this board to symbolize our ever-changing paper and how important we are to our school. Every year we always appoint new people to advertise our paper at these events. It's a shared experience amongst most staff members. It forces our staff to dive deeper into who the CHAT really is.
Investigative Stories
Although investigative stories have different definitions in many publications, our investigative stories allow our writers to choose what they want to write. We have always heard that in real-world journalism, writers don't really have a say in what they write. However, we give the opportunity to our writers to write about what they are passionate about. Just recently, our Clubs Editor wrote a powerful piece that covered ongoing breast cancer news while sharing her reflection on coping with her mother's diagnosis.
The Budget & Budget Meetings
The "Budget" is how we get our stories done! From our perspective, it is the most collaborative and democratic. Every two weeks, we host a budget meeting where everyone in class comes up with ideas for every section. We sit around the classroom and bounce back ideas, making sure everyone is heard. Then,
the editors fill out our budget document that lasts every two weeks. The budget is always subject to change and... chaos, as any other newspaper would. In other words, the budget is the mitochondria of our class. This also enforces constant communication between our content and digital class, as well.
Budget Reviews
After the two weeks are up, all of the editors get together and create a budget review to present to our class. It's fun, collaborative, and exciting because there are always things to improve on. This is the time where we encourage each other and improve every "budget period" one by one. Sometimes, I include quotes from fellow journalists to provide a real-world example of what we want to change.
The "CHAT Chime In"
Our way to write stories together.
The CHAT Chime-In is our class editorial. We all provide our quotes and chime in on a topic, whether it's school news or even 2024 New Year's Resolutions. I implemented this feature because it unites us and puts our perspectives into one story.
Team Building, Leadership, Fundraising, Marketing, Therapist...
Although I wasn't quite sure where to place this since it belongs in so many categories, I knew it had to be somewhere. In 2022, as a sophomore, I heard about FSPA and I had the aspirations to take my entire class there. No one had ever heard of FSPA but my advisor had been a part of FSPA for nearly 15 years. The emerging CHAT Newspaper wasn't at its highest potential to compete at FSPA, but we gathered three of our most trusted editors that year and we drove 3 1/2 hours to Orlando, Florida. When we got there, we felt intimidated that schools brought their entire staffs and we
were just three. We had to pay out of our own money to attend FSPA but we learned so much about the journalism industry and how far we could take our scholastic newspaper. When we came back to school, we presented on all of our information derived from countless sessions and intensive classes, but we forgot one thing: finances. "So, you're telling me we have to pay for all of
this?" Someone asked. We froze and didn't know what to say at the time, but we knew what had to be done. We immediately started to raise money through advertisements and became our own marketers for FSPA itself. We had to think big: Pathos, Logos, and Ethos. FSPA is fun, educational, and worth it. Little did we know, we ended up raising for $20,000 in advertisements and the following year, we brought our entire class and even the yearbook team. When April 13-15 came around, the Yearbook and Newspaper class were starting to become the best of friends: something no
one would have imagined. We grew as journalists, but we
also grew as friends. We weren't the top publication or the most funded, but we had a growing team that was going to carry us to the level we needed to be at. Many people shine a light on those publications who have been established for 30+ years who have countless national awards, but what about those who will get there? Those publications who cover award-winning news but never receive recognition for it. We were united and we embraced that we weren't a top publication yet. But we did know that we were the foundation.
Above all, I encourage my writers to write what they're passionate about whether it's controversial or not. When a writer comes up to me and asks, "Hey Val, can I write a story on...." 99% of the time, I say yes. Even if the story is niche and arcane, there is always a student or viewer out there who feels heard just by viewing the story. My editors and writers are heard, regardless of what they have to say. Although I'm Editor-in-Chief, it's a democracy. Not a monarchy. I have faith in each and every one of my staff members always and that's why I made sure that everyone could have the opportunity to attend FSPA districts and states. Ads, fundraising, and donations were barely enough. In the matter of three years, the total attendance has increased by 2,300%. -- Literally! The first year only three people attended, including me. The following year, all 23 of us went! It was a blast and I can't wait to bring my publication again, except it's 53 people now.