Leadership & Team Building | Michigan Journalis 2

Leadership and Team Building

The entire staff pictured after our paper plate awards in June of 2024.

Being a leader on staff means it is your job to keep the staff on the same page. Over the past months, there have been many obstacles that we have had to jump through that called for leadership to work with staffers.

Presentations

This year has been full of adjustments. From changing advisors to teaching new staffers, there has been much learning and teaching to do as an editor. As a result of this, I have given my class periodic presentations that coach students on how to improve their reporting.

This was part of a presentation that was titled "Mid year reminders". I made and gave this presentation after our first issue was submitted. Many new staffers had forgotten what each story type required, so I made a short presentation to cover the basics. The slides from this are now posted in the room for anyone who may need help.

This was part of a presentation that was titled "Types of articles". I made this presentation a week after first semester to get the whole publication on the same page. Going into second semester, we (editors) wanted to set new goals for the publication so we could continue to improve.

Remind

As I mentioned in the “Editing” section, as editors we started using the Remind app for the publication. By reminding staffers of editorial board meetings and Deadline, our meeting to get the paper out for print, we have had higher engagement at all meetings.

Staffer of the Issue

With help from my advisor, we started a "Staffer of the Issue"
award. This award goes to any staffer, aside from editors, that went above and beyond. We noticed after our first issue that staffers needed an incentive to do more than the minimum. So far, this has encouraged writers to push themselves to take on more work. When a staffer wins the award, they get a certificate, their story is posted on the back wall of the classroom, but also a 10 dollar gift card to local shops. When I won the Student Press Law Center’s Freedom of Information Award, The Tower was awarded $500 as well. Since The Tower collected this money, my advisor has set it aside to fund the gift cards. To high school students, a gift card to an ice cream shop is a big incentive to work harder. I am glad that my hard work that led to winning the award will now pay off in the form of the publication improving.

Paper plate awards

There is a longstanding tradition to do end of the year paper plate awards for all staffers. Making the paper plates falls on the shoulders of the incoming editors. These are the other editors and I giving out the awards to the staff last year. This is a way for the staff to be recognized for their hard work, celebrate friendships, and laugh together.