FHN Media Recruitment Guide 2015

FHN Publications

o i t a c i l b u P FHN Some of the publications staff pose with the awards they won in November at the JEA/ NSPA conference at Disney in Orlando, Florida.

So you’re thinking about joining FHN’s publication staff. You probably have some questions, namely, what it is exactly that you are getting yourself into. Publications is a term applied the amalgamation of several individual staffs that run out of room 026. Depending on your interests, you can join the North Star newspaper staff,

Excalibur yearbook staff, FHNtoday TV video staff, FHNtoday or FHNgameday staffs, or photography staff.

Each of the different staffs comes with its own responsibilities and its own perks. All, however, tend to foster close bonds amongst their respective staffers.

“Publications is a second family to me,” webmaster Chase Meyer said. “I can always rely on everyone to make my day when the rest of my classes just aren’t doing that. I wouldn’t give up my experiences on staff for the world.”

Working on publications staffs gives valuable experiences to all involved, and help to teach important skills.

“Being on staff not only gets you more involved in the schol but it is very much a learning experience that prepares you for the future and what the real world of work and responsibility and leadership is like,” video editor-in-chief Autumn Todd said.

The wide variety of staffs means that no matter what it is that you’re interested in, there is something for you.

Newspaper allows students to keep up with

ons

Table of Contents To learn more about the EXCALIBUR yearbook, go to page 3.

current events, both in the real world, and around school.

To learn more about Yearbook allows students to FHNTODAYTV, go to page chronicle the year in review for 4. the entire school, in terms of club activities, sports, major events, and other student activities. Video allows students to express stories similar in content to newspaper and yearbook, To learn more about but to do so through the FHNTODAY and GAMEDAY, use of videos. Web staff go to page 5. offers a fast-paced, constantly changing environment that combines all different kinds of media.

Photo staff works to improve students’ To learn more about PHOTO, artistic eye, as well go to page 6. as to provide images for all forms of publication.

To learn more about the NORTH STAR newspaper, go to page 7.

Excalibur Yearbook

Yearbook staff is responsible for capturing a year in the life of FHN for future classes, and for chronicling important events around school.

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Yearbook really teaches you to meet deadlines, and to make sure you get things done in a timely manner. You also get to be creative because you have to learn how to design and take care of all the little details to make the yearbook look as professional as it is. I love getting to work with great people and to work together as a team to design an amazing yearbook we can call our own.”

Lavanya Kolluru, staff

Members of the Excalibur staff pose at a booth at the JEA/ NSPA conference. Publications staff members generally have two opportunities a year to travel around the country to attend national journalism conferences.

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The best part of yearbook is making something you can be proud of, and knowing that all your hard work paid off. We spend so much time together in the room and its like we’re one big family. Joining yearbook was one of the best decisions I ever made. Even if you don’t know for sure if it’s for you, it’s worth it because it gives you the chance to show how much fun and how rewarding hard work can really be.”

Madison Roloff, editor-in-chief

Every year, the Excalibur yearbook staff puts out a yearbook hundreds of pages long chronicling the events of the previous school year. The yearbook is based around a theme which changes from year to year, which unifies the direction and focus of

of stories and of the overall design of the yearbook.

Staffers work all year long to ensure they keep up to date with important events going on around FHN and in the community, and to cover the major events of each week, as well as to feature major sporting events, news, and athletes, club photos and rosters, and, of course, school photos.

Anyone joining yearbook will have the opportunity to work on a nationally renowned and award winning staff, and to learn how to use programs like Adobe inDesign, as well as how to write more tightly and more effectively, how to design a page or a spread, how to craft a resume, and how to carefully manage time and meet deadlines. To sign up, visit: fhntoday.com/tellmemore

FHNtoday TV

Video staff lets students play with visual storytelling and editing software, making it an ideal staff for anyone interested in broadcasting.

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I love being behind the camera and shooting videos because it helps me express myslef and it’s what I love to do.

My favorite part is piecing videos together and seeing the final product, and knowing all the hard work I put in paid off. If you join staff, there is so much you can be a part of and it’s just a ton of fun and hard work. Video is awesome because you get the chance to tell a story through video, which is unique because you get to make it visual.”

-Autumn Todd, editor

A screencap of an FHNtodayTV video. Video staff work constantly to come up with new ideas for videos and to find new and creative ways to tell stories.

Video staff offers a unique blend of a lot of different staffs: the storytelling aspect of newspaper or yearbook, the visual and editing aspects of photo, and the multimedia aspect of web. This combination creates a wholly original media by which students have the opportunity to tell stories.

The web team, along with other staff members also work to live-stream sporting events, making them available for view on FHNtoday for those who could not otherwise be there.

Joining video offers students the chance to learn how to operate DSLR cameras, as well as other camera equipment and accessories, how to edit videos using Adobe Premiere, how to operate WordPress websites, and how to write an effective resume, how to effectively communicate ideas visually and verbally.To sign up, visit: fhntoday.com/tellmemore

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Being on video staff is a lot of work but it’s all worth it in the end, and it’s something you should really think about. I love video because it’s being a part of something big, even if you’re only a small part of it, that feeling is really satisfying.”

Kamila Zendran, staff

FHNtoday and FHNgameday

Web staff deals with a combination of all sorts of different forms of media, and is a fast-paced and ever changing publication.

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I think the best part of being on web staff is the fast pace and high turnover of our stories.

We’re on weekly rotations that are never the same and are always producing different content. You should definitely be prepared to think outside the box. We don’t just write stories. We produce many different types of multimedia pieces to suite all of our audiences and we’re always looking for ways to innovate our content.”

Chase Meyer, webmaster

My favorite thing about web is the experiences I’ve had. There’s a real sense of cameraderie between us, and we joke around with each other but we still help each other out. If you’re thinking about joining: do it. There’s a wide variety of things you can do.

You’re only limited by what you want to do. If you don’t know something, there are always people who can help you learn what to do. There’s a huge opportunity for growth on web team.

The sense of community when you’re on staff is just amazing. It makes the time spent in the room more fun.

Michael Basford, staff

Web staff is ideally suited for those who work best under pressure. Without the deadline cushion other staffs can sometimes have, web strives to be as up to the minute as possible, which is what makes web so uniqulely appealing. Web is the intersection of all of the publications, with members of all of the different staffs contributing to the websites in some way, whether through stories, videos, or photo galleries or stories. FHNgameday focuses on sports news, and keeps a running tally of the results of recent sports games.

Today focuses on news and feature stories.

To view the websites, go to fhntoday.com and fhngameday.com To sign up, visit: fhntoday.com/tellmemore

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Photography

Photo staff lets students express themselves through images and be involved in the design of all publications.

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Lauren Arata stands in a huddle with the rest of the guard as they prepare themselves for their performance. This photo appeared as a part of a photo story on Arata. Photo stories are entire stories, the main ideas of which are punctuated by photos rather than words. (Photo by Amanda Eckhard)

I love that photo staff is like a big family that all loves to take photos. We tell about our weekends during Monday stories, and celebrate birthdays together. We all have the same common goal of taking great photos to make all the publications look great.

I also love that the photo staff has a part in all the publications: the newspaper, the website and the yearbook.�

-Abby Temper, editor

Photography is one of the most intergral parts of all of the publications. It is the responsibilities of photographers to take photos of school and community events to correspond with stories or spreads dealing with the same topic. Photo assignments vary anywhere from shooting a football game or swim meet to shooting a school board meeting, to shooting events on Main Street. Photo staffers learn how to use Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, hot to edit photos, how to write clearly and concisely, how to manage time well, and what makes a well composed photo.

To sign up, visit: fhntoday.com/tellmemore

Photographers often cover major school events, like the annual Iron Chef competition, pictured above. (Photos

by Lauren Price, Ashton Stegman, and Kristen Pike)

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North Star Newspaper Newspaper staff offers students a chance to report on current events and important news around FHN.

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Members of the North Star staff show off their papers on paper day. The paper is generally released once or twice a month, and the day is celebrated by staffers, who come to school early to get them ready to be delivered to classes, eat donuts, and listen to music.

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My favorite part of newspaper is probably the environment we get to work in. It’s a really nice balance of seriousness and fun, so work gets done and deadlines are met, but it isn’t quite as stressful because you’re surrounded by people who are social, and positive, and there to help. I would tell someone planning to join newspaper to get ready for a wild ride. There’s a lot of personal responsibility and extra work involved, but don’t let that intimidate you. You meet great people and learn both technical skills, like design, and life skills, like time management. It’s definitley worth it.”

Claire Boenitz, staff

The North Star staff is responsible for putting out a monthly or bi-monthly newspaper covering major current events. The newspaper is distributed to the entire school, as well as to advertisers, district administration and other area schools. Staff members learn how to use Adobe InDesign, how to design a page or a spread, how to write tightly and effectively, how to craft a resume, and how to communicate effectively. To sign up, visit: fhntoday.com/tellmemore

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I love getting to be the face behind the news of the school, so I can bring important and fun information to students. Also, I love that it is like my second family for me. It’s like my home at school. It can be a lot of work at times but it’s all worth it. The friends you make will be almost like family, and the feeling you get when you see your work published is the greatest.”

Erika Paar, editor

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Staff is where I found where I belong in high school. Every time you see your name as the author of an article or the designer of a page, it feels like you’ve contributed to something larger than yourself.”

Anthony Kristensen, editor