The Editors
By: Kalli England
The purpose behind student media class is for students to learn workplace skills as well as photography and journalism. It is like no class in the building because students are given authority privileges and have an $8,000 bill to pay every year. Student media takes in anyone who has the right attitude and the motivation to be the best version of themselves. It also pushes students to give themselves and the school a voice; and every year, students learn how to work by themselves independently. Together they will produce the yearbook and four edition’s the Caval Crier. Their jobs are big but come with growth and satisfaction. This year’s editors are Troy Fa’Atuai-McCuen the photography editor, Maleah Johnson the copy editor, Camila Ledezma the social media manager, Hazel Tomblin the assistant editor, and the editor in chief is Breana Hamilton.
As photography editor, sophomore Fa’Atuai-McCuen spends time checking and looking at photos on yearbook pages and edits of photos compared to their originals, correcting all social media posts with the social media manager, and glancing through all the folders and photos to make sure that only the best are being used.
“One thing I’ve taken from student media that I’ve used in real life was the ability to persevere, problem solve, think outside the box, and be able to write correctly,” said Fa’Atuai-McCuen.
Taking the role as assistant editor means a student must talk everything over with the Editor in Chief (EIC) and help them keep all members of student media on task. She makes sure everyone is getting approval sheets signed off on and moving them in the right direction. She must be prepared to work outside of class, lift people’s motivation, and proofread everything before it goes to the EIC.
“One thing in student media that I’ve used in my life is the dedication, hard work and extreme focus it takes to be in this class,” said sophomore assistant editor Hazel Tomblin. “It makes me a hard worker, teaches me discipline, how to prioritize, and how to be professional while also being polite.”
Junior Bre Hamilton’s job as EIC is to get the ball rolling on the yearbook and newspaper. She keeps people in line when it comes to deadlines, edits every member’s work, and gives them all feedback before it goes to print. She helps Mrs. Stacy make decisions on yearbook pages, layouts, fonts, and the overall look of the yearbook and newspaper. She guides and teaches.
“At first, I didn’t expect much from the class. I honestly thought that it was going to be an easy class that was only meant to show us how to point a camera and shoot and capture images. I soon found out that I was wrong. The class was challenging and informative. I felt as though I was learning things that could help me in my personal life when It comes to capturing images that surrounded me,” said Hamilton. “This is my second year in student media, and while being in this class I have been able to get myself out of my comfort zone, become extremely responsible, and I’ve just become a better person in general.”
Hamilton will work with each staff member while responding promptly to any questions they may have. She will push people including herself to think outside of the box, get out of their bubble, take initiative to pursue projects, and generally not be scared to step on other people’s shoes to get what she needs done.
But the review process begins with Maleah Johnsonn copy editor. She reads their captions, and makes sure they have the correct spelling and grammar. Her job is the first step to help make sure that everything gets done correctly.
“Some skills that I have learned being in student media that I haven’t learned in others are how to take good pictures and how to better deal with people and get the things I need to get done,” said Johnson. “The things I’ve learned will help me later in life because I’m a big procrastinator. I also enjoy taking pictures and learning how to take them the right way [which] is helping me in the future. Being in the class has overall improved me as a person to take accountability for the things I do and become a better person.”
As social media manager, sophomore Camila Ledezma helps the EIC and the assistant editor polish the theme for the yearbook. She must keep the event calendar up-to-date with each event going on, and decide what social media post needs posted and what events to cover. Her goal is to work with the photography editor to plan and collect CCMHS memories in a technical and stylistic way while keeping everyone engaged online. She edits each post for our social media before all the decisions are given to the assistant editor and EIC.
“Before student media, I never spoke to others I didn’t know. But now with this class, I’m more confident in talking to others for interviews and this class has helped me learn more names than just the students in my grade. Being able to speak freely in the class without getting judged is nice as well,” said Ladezma. “This class allows us to speak freely and vent about certain things while getting advice. I see the class as a safe space.”
Tina Stacy is the head of the entire class for student media. She is the one to overlook every article, photography assignment, just everything in general. All of the students’ final edits go through her and she makes the corrections, even over the EIC. Stacy is a very important part of this class and keeps the class together, even if they fall apart. Stacy makes all the meetings with the publisher and then will fill students in on that.
“An editor needs to be a motivated student. If a student doesn’t take their education seriously, then they can’t be a competent editor. Also, they need to have a way of staying organized because in student media there is always a lot going on,” said Stacy, “If someone is interested in being an editor they need to have been in the class for at least one year, and they should have a strong understanding in English class, and they want to be a person who is at the mature end of their fellow classmates. My editors are always leaders in their grades, and it serves them well as editors, but a shy student could also succeed.”
