Editing, Leadership & Team Building
Mentorship
As the Editor-In-Chief, I view mentorship as guiding journalists at Ka Leo to develop their voice and confidence, as well as being someone who leads by example. Inside and outside the newsrooms, I demonstrate professionalism and dedication while prioritizing empowering each journalist to reach their full potential by being someone they can come to whenever they need.
Humility
Leading a newsroom has taught me the value of humility; the understanding that leadership is not about authority, it is about accountability. Every story reflects the overall effort of our publication, not just the person who wrote it. We rise and fall together. By working to help everyone in our publication and uplift them, we elevate our voices and, in return, better our publication as a whole.
Resilience
Resilience in the newsroom looks like staying up late to edit stories and write an article where the original writer fell through. It's all about staying calm and composed under intense pressure and turning the obstacles you face into opportunities to grow. Also, being the only returning member in that newsroom class period meant teaching 20+ students the basics without other editors to assist me. Being in the newsroom, I've learned to adapt quickly, maintain my optimism, and inspire the staff to push through.
Stewardship
Stewardship, to me, is the responsibility I have to Ka Leo to prepare and protect its legacy for the journalists who will lead it after me, while ensuring I am serving the community with integrity. Preserving the publication's values while encouraging innovation not only moves the publication forward but also gives room for positive change.
Responsibilities as Editor-In-Chief
As the Editor-In-Chief, I take charge of sections by assigning stories to writers, guiding their reporting and writing, brainstorming creative ideas for special issues, reviewing and editing all content including articles and headlines, while providing kind and constructive peer feedback using methods like TAG (tell them something you like, ask them a question, give them feedback), or compliment sandwiches (give a compliment, critique, then compliment), and fostering a supportive, collaborative culture within the class, while still writing articles as well.
Presentations
note: each slideshow below does not include the entire presentation
"Meet the Editors 2024"
As features editor in 2024, I pitched to the rest of the editorial team the idea to do a presentation to our class, since editor roles were brand new. I felt that our class should know each of our roles, and what we can assist them with. I edited a template and sent it over to our team with what to write; What an article is like in your section, your goals for journalism 2023, and how you can assist them! Overall, the presentation went well, and staff reporters informed me they felt better prepared for the year, especially with the extra support.
"Meet the Editors 2025"
As Editor-In-Chief this school year, I felt it was important to do another presentation as my role was brand new in the program, and there were many new journalists joining this year. I edited a template and sent it over to our team with what to write, such as when they started at Ka Leo, their favorite part of being a part of the publication, and any awards or honors they might have won. I felt it was important to highlight the rewarding parts of the program to get the students excited for journalism! Starting, some students never even considered Journalism, but I made sure to capture attention towards our fantastic program using this slideshow.
"Interpersonal Skills"
Every year, I've noticed that new students are often worried about their first interview because they lack confidence in their interpersonal skills. This year, there were many new students, so I came up with the idea of doing a presentation on how to build their interpersonal skills. This presentation included ways to communicate better and improve their skills, along with activities that we did during class to practice these skills. At the end, I collected all their notes to grade and make sure my presentation got the point across.
Mentorship+
To encourage new journalists at Ka Leo, I dedicate time to work alongside them during every stage of the writing process, from brainstorming ideas to polishing final drafts before hitting publish. Since I'm the only editor in the class period with all the students who aren't editors yet. I oversee 20 students during their beginning process of being journalists. I started the year by giving them all the ways to contact me, and encouraging them to ask me any question they have, even if they feel it's stupid. The opportunity to mentor new journalists on my staff is incredibly important to me, and it gives me great joy to show them all the amazing experiences journalism offers. My journalism advisor has seen my mentorship towards other staff firsthand and wrote a letter of recommendation highlighting my leadership, approachability, and dedication to supporting new staff members. When hearing that I was entering the Hawai'i Journalist of the Year contest, two first-year staff reporters wrote letters about their experiences with me mentoring them through their first year.
