Joining Verde halfway through my sophomore year, I remember how intimidated I was on my first day. Having almost little to no experience with journalism apart from a half semester beginning journalism class, I felt out of place, surrounded by people who were much more experienced than me in the world of student journalism. For the first couple of classes, I felt a bit awkward and out of place, only sticking with the few other sophomores that joined Verde halfway through the semester as I did. However, as time went on and I began talking and working with with more and more staffers, I realized just how welcoming of a community Verde really was. Entering a completely new environment is tough, and the world of student journalism can be pretty intimidating, but in the end, you end up getting through all of it with the help of your staff. After experiencing first hand what it was like to be the new and clueless staff member, not familiar with such a new and different environment, I knew that I never wanted any new staffers to feel that same way. Thus, this year, I made an effort to go around and talk to all the new staffers, wanting them to feel welcome from the very first day. It can take time to adjust to a new environment, but if you have someone next to you to guide you along the way, it makes the transition so much more easier. I put it upon myself to become that friendly face that the new staffers could turn to for help or advice, wanting to help them realize that despite how overwhelming it can all be at first glance, Verde is a safe space in which they should feel comfortable in voicing their opinions and will help them grow not only as journalists, but as individuals as well.
Gratitude POst-Its
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At the end of each production cycle, we give each other gratitude post-its, thanking staffers who have helped us during production, or that we simply appreciate. It's a fun way to thank people and to spread positivity in the classroom, especially after a stressful week full of late nights and countless coffee runs. These are some of the post-its I have received from my fellow staffers this school year.
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Camp mac
The summer before senior year, I worked alongside members from other Palo Alto High School publications as a camp MAC counselor. I co-taught a class of eight rising eighth and ninth graders for a week on all things journalism. I created unique and fun lessons for my class, helped organize camp wide activities, and became close friends with all my campers. Overall, I wanted to create a fun and safe space for my campers, wanting them to not only learn countless new skills, but have fun doing so. By the end of the camp, I could see how all my campers improved greatly as writers, each of them discovering their strengths, some excelling at sports writing, others at editorial writing and even photography. In the end, my campers had fun learning new things and knew that our classroom was a safe space for them to share any opinion they had without any judgement.
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jea/nspa 2019 anaheim convention
My junior year, I had the opportunity to go to Anaheim, California for a few days and attend the JEA/NSPA convention. I participated in contests and attended talks by journalists from all over the country. I had the opportunity to meet countless student journalists and look through high school publications from all across the country. Overall, I learned a lot and attended interesting talks and presentations that taught me many new things, from how to properly cover sensitive topics to how indigenous people are portrayed in the media. I also attended several talks about how to be a successful leader, and applied what I learned to Verde once we came back from the trip, which I found to be very helpful in making the new staffers feel welcome.
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