Galleon/Sailor Publications – 8-14-2017

Adviser – Morgan Kraska

Editor – Kelsy Armstrong

Steamboat Springs High School, 45 E Maple Street, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477

Students on Staff: 20

Mission Statement: As a team, we are honored and privileged to pick the moments that will be remembered this year. We get to tell OUR story as SAILORS; a story that will become a legacy.  Goals:  More Diversity in Coverage, More Candid Photos, More Individual Stories, More School Spirit, Strong but Simple Theme, More Detailed Captions. Rules/Norms: Think Outside of the Box, Be Observant and Aware, Work as a Team, Be and Stay Organized, Have Fun!

Coverage Philosophy: Each team had a leader, photographer, writer, mod/acd designer and a spread designer. We used a “divide and conquer” approach to complete spreads for each deadline. This year, we are going to try and team according to job (photographers, designers, writers, etc.) so that we can work together and communicate more effectively. We are also going to brainstorm coverage/angle/stories for each spread as a whole class and then break it down from there. We really want to work on breaking away from traditional coverage in an effort to tell stories that are more aligned to our theme and that give everyone in our school a voice, not just those who are the most involved.

Using Varied Media Platforms: This is an area of weakness for us. We use the typical… email, announcements, posters, surveys, etc. This year, we are going to dedicate ourselves to using social media more consistently and effectively. We did a hashtag campaign a couple of years ago where each grade had its own hashtag for the year. We had competitions for the best photo and most photos, etc. It was fun because it got everyone involved in coming up with the best stories and it helped to get everyone excited about the book.

Fun Things: We LOVE late nights! We typically choose a theme, and everyone brings in food. We work, we chat, we laugh, and when we need a break, we DANCE! We also celebrate meeting each deadline on time by going out to breakfast. After the book is complete, we take a day off school to going on an adventure and enjoy each other. Last year, we went to breakfast, hung out at the park, went bowling and then finished the day by touring our local newspaper, The Steamboat Pilot & Today.

A Favorite Story: For us, developing our program and producing a book that is receiving local, state and national recognition is what we are most proud of. Even being chosen for this feature, makes us beam with pride because we have never been in the spotlight before. I started advising five years ago, and when I took over, our book was more of a scrapbook than a yearbook. Looking back, I didn’t understand that creating a Yearbook mean teaching journalism. Even as of two years ago, we only had six students in Yearbook and everything was brand new to us. We had just joined the Herff Jones team, starting using InDesign and for the first time, we attempted to develop a verbal and visual theme while making a valiant effort to work on design, coverage, copy and captions. It has been a steep learning curve, but we are starting to feel like journalists and we are starting to find our voice. We now have 20 students on staff and there is a renewed energy and buzz surrounding our program and our book. This year, we are really going to focus on coverage and telling impactful and meaningful stories. We hope to start giving everyone a voice and we can’t wait to hear what they have to say!

Getting the Year Off to a Good Start: We have only been to J-Day one time, so we are by no means experts on the topic. But, knowing that we will be receiving an award makes it really easy to get everyone excited to go. Last year, we got an Award of Commendation, and considering that at the time, we only had six kids in Yearbook, we were really excited!!! This year, we have earned an All Colorado recognition and again, we are thrilled! Attending the Rocky Mountain Journalism Camp is also a great way to get started on developing a theme, which in itself gets everyone pumped for the year. This year, I only brought one student to camp, but it was still so worth it! We took ideas and feedback from staff who couldn’t attend, and we were able to develop a theme, write opening theme copy, organize our ladder and design a cover! We can’t wait to share everything with our staff and knowing they will get a little dose of camp will get everyone psyched for J-Day! We even won a “Best Theme” award this year at camp:)