Leadership
From managing projects to teaching others, I define leadership in a multitude of ways. If nothing else, I define this work as something that helps others grow in a combination of ways while also holding myself to high standards and setting an example.
Growing as a leader
This was my submission for NSPA’s 2025 Editorial Leadership Best of Show competition. Since stepping into leadership, this was one of the first times I truly looked back at the work I had done and how I have changed as leader over the years, so it felt rewarding in that sense. I was awarded seventh place for this submission at the National High School Journalism Convention in November 2025.
Presenting about leadership
At the fall 2025 Georgia Scholastic Press Association and National High School Journalism Convention, I and Managing Editor Peter Atchley presented “Leading a Convergent Model Publication.” In this, we gave tips on ensuring a cohesive and efficient hybrid publication. We touched on topics such as creating new positions to fill gaps, creating content for multiple platforms and creating staff bonds. Presenting with Atchley was an extremely positive experience and a fun way to talk with other publications about what their experiences have been like.
Learning about leadership
Editorial Leadership Preconvention
At the 2024 National Scholastic Press Association fall conference, I attended the Editorial Leadership Preconvention class. Through this, I was able to learn a lot about different leadership concepts and strategies and come up with some solutions for the issues I’d been experiencing earlier in the year. It was also a great opportunity to talk to students from other schools and learn about how their programs operate and what other forms of leadership can look like.
Leadership Seminars
Every month, Mr. Ragsdale holds a leadership Seminar for all editors in the program. During these, we learn about different aspects of leadership, such as communication and editing. They are also often a chance for us to reflect on our experiences with leadership in the past month alongside peers who are likely going through similar experiences.
Editor's Journals
Every four weeks, editors write an “Editor’s Journal” which is a chance for us to reflect on and make sense of the past month. We’re tasked with answering guiding questions and writing a reflective narrative, which Mr. Ragsdale then goes through and provides feedback on and ask questions about. Especially as I’ve stepped into new leadership roles, these documents have been a helpful way for me to share my struggles , whether with my personal work or with my staff, and get feedback on how that success can be continued and those problems could be resolved.
Editor's Synthesis
Every four weeks, editors write an “Editor’s Journal” which is a chance for us to reflect on and make sense of the past month. We’re tasked with answering guiding questions and writing a reflective narrative, which Mr. Ragsdale then goes through and provides feedback on and ask questions about. Especially as I’ve stepped into new leadership roles, these documents have been a helpful way for me to share my struggles , whether with my personal work or with my staff, and get feedback on how that success can be continued and those problems could be resolved.
Production Calendar
This calendar was a collaborative effort between myself and the rest of ODYSSEY’s Leadership Team. It’s a culmination of every deadline, meeting and notable dates we could think of. This is posted at the top of Google Classroom for easy access and we also make a point to go through it as a class regularly. As issues have come up or we’ve experienced scheduling conflicts, we’ve also had to shift some things around to ensure everyone still has a reasonable amount of time and resources to meet the necessary deadlines.
Story management
A big part of my job is managing all content produced for the website, from where stories are in the editing process to what’s going up when. Most of my organization here comes down to two spreadsheets. The one on the left is what’s called the “Ultimate Content Spreadsheet.” This is essentially a master list of every story I know of that’s in the works and that will eventually end up on the website. In this, I include what the story is, who wrote it, its status (including whether it needs edits from me), a tentative date of when it’s being published and any other notes I might have. One the right is my posting schedule, which is a more condensed version of the UCS. At the beginning of each week, I sit down and plan out what I want to post each day. Overall, these help me not only stay organized and in the loop on everything happening, but also ensure that I post a variety of content.
Leading mini lessons
Throughout this year, I’ve been responsible for leading in-class mini lessons on a variety of topics, both alone and alongside other editors. These subjects of these presentations have ranged from menus, our monthly choice assignments, to the basics of review writing and press conference protocols.
Project Management
Once in a while, multiple people will collaborate on one package or story, which I’ve had the opportunity to take leadership over a few times. This role usually involves recruiting people to help, organizing and planning everything and making sure everything gets done on time on the back end.
Prom 2025
This was the first event coverage I organized, which was for the 2025 Prom. I was responsible for getting a team of photographers together as well as a couple of people to do social media. At Prom, I helped upload photos and generally make sure everything was running smoothly. Afterward, I communicated with everyone about deadlines for uploading content and writing captions to ensure we could post on both the website and social media in a timely manner. Although we ran into a few problems, namely some technical issues, it overall went smoothly and we were able to release a variety of content.
New Teacher Package
At the beginning of my sophomore year, I was tasked with managing the New Teacher Package, which is where staff members interview and take photos of each of the new teachers and staff members at our school. I was responsible for making sure the number of teachers was divided up evenly among all of the staffers, every new teacher was recognized and editing and compiling the final package together. This took a lot of work on the back end to ensure that each of the scenes, short blurbs, were factually correct and had sufficient photos and I struggled with being assertive enough to get the package over the finish line. However, this year, after a lot more experience with leadership and managing other, similar projects, it went a lot smoother which I feel yielded a better final product.
2024 Election Package
I was put in charge of the Digital Staff creating a multimedia package about the 2024 Election, one of the more prominent packages our program has done. This was so much larger than any of the projects I had worked on before, and definitely came with some challenges such as people not completing the things they needed to by the necessary deadline, but it all came together in the end. While I didn’t physically contribute a lot to this package other than posting each of the individual stories, I held several meetings with the Digital Staff to coordinate the production of multimedia, illustrations and the coding of it. I also sat down with Editor-in-Chief Wyatt Meyer before we published the package and copy edited each of the stories with him.
Meetings
I have meetings with various people on a weekly basis for check-ins and planning. On Tuesdays at 7:30, I meet with Print Editor-in-Chief Liza Larson and Mr. Ragsdale. On Thursdays at 7:45, I meet with Mr. Ragsdale and the rest of Cabinet. On Thursdays at noon, during lunch, I meet with the Digital Staff. On Fridays at 7:30, I meet with the entire Editorial Board and Mr. Ragsdale.
Editors-in-Chief
These meetings, just between me, Larson and Mr. Ragsdale are typically a combination of a check-in and work session. We spend the first half checking on one the progress of the magazine and anything going on with digital, such as packages I’m working on and that week’s plan for social media. This is also where we talk about any current staff issues, such as deadlines not being met, and how we can resolve them. We then usually spend the second half each working on our respective projects.
Cabinet
Agendas for these meetings, which are usually either made by Managing Editor Peter Atchely or myself, usually follow a similar structure in what items we do check-ins on. We talk about any issues we’re noticing on staff, such as an editor who might need extra support or areas where the staff is holistically struggling. There are also where we do things like story assignments for an upcoming magazine cycle or discuss changes to the production calendar when needed.
Digital
While I do check-ins with Digital at the beginning of class each day, meetings are a good way to make sure we’re communicating on everything. This is where the Menu and Beat Editors are able to let me know about any potential issues staffers might be facing, the Social Media Coordinator is able to talk about what content she’s in need of and I can get a full update on the Digital Feature Writer’s story. We also discuss things such as packages we all have a part in and our plans for future bonding activities.
Editorial Board
Editorial Board meetings include any ODYSSEY editors and agendas are usually a collaborative effort between Atchley and myself based on our discussion at that week’s Cabinet meeting along with anything editors want to discuss. Much of these meetings are made up of check-ins, on everything from how everyone’s week has gone to progress on both web and print stories. We also discuss items such as any upcoming conferences and expectations for those or issues we notice are becoming a pattern.