2015-2016
portfolio
Mary
Grace Paris
au g.
24
june
03
a complete collection
please enjoy at your leisure and i hope that this portfolio shows my skills as a journalist. For the past two years i have been trying to improve on my skills and become the best writer, designer and photographer possible. Hobbies include: singing “fergilicious”, watching “the office”, pretending i am Taylor swift, etcetera...
MARY GRACE
PA R I S
email: parismarygrace@gmail.com website: parismarygrace.wordpress.com instagram: marygraceparis twitter: parismg
May 22, 2016 Renee Burke Journalism Adviser William R. Boone High School 1000 E. Kaley St. Orlando, FL 32806 Dear Mrs. Burke: The position of Index Editor for Legend Yearbook has recently become available. I believe I have the required leadership and people skills needed to fulfill this position. Please review the enclosed resume and consider me for the position of the 2016-2017 Legend Index Editor. In my second year on staff and my first year as the Index Editor I have developed skills that are needed in order to succeed and meet deadlines. In order to be Index Editor, I must be able to complete pages in the best quality possible and ensure there is enough diversity that represents our school. Yearbook has offered me a chance to take on a leadership position and I would like the chance to reapply for the position. My ability to lead and work with others, as well as my experience as Index Editor have helped me succeed in my short journalism career. I am open to new ideas that could improve the index and am willing to take the time needed to ensure the yearbook is diverse and represents our school. I have always been interested in journalism, whether it was writing or photography. Throughout the past year, my writing and photography skills have greatly improved. The body copy for the Edgewater Rivalry page was my favorite deadline because I was able to pack in information without the story being too choppy. My most challenging deadline was deadline six and checking the index, however it showed my dedication to this publication and journalism program. Thank you for considering me for the position of Index Editor, an interview with me would allow you to personally evaluate my skills and personality traits that would make me fit for the position. I would be lucky to be able to fulfill this position for two years. I have attached a copy of my resume for you to look over at your leisure. I appreciate the consideration and I am looking forward to hearing back from you in the next week or so. Respectfully yours,
Mary Grace Paris Enclosed: resume
MARY GRACE
PA R I S
email: parismarygrace@gmail.com website: parismarygrace.wordpress.com instagram: marygraceparis twitter: parismg
Objective To bring leadership and business skills, as well as creativity and determination to become an asset to the publication
Education Completed three years at William R. Boone High School Graduation Date: May 2017 Unweighted GPA: 3.96 Weighted GPA: 4.82
Experience
Legend Yearbook Index Editor (2015-present): experience with laborious tasks like checking every name in the 21 page index; checking correct spelling of names; ensuring racial, gender and grade diversity Legend Yearbook Staffer (2014-2015): experience with photography, writing copy and interviewing; publishing sport stories online; experience in Adobe InDesign, Bridge and Photoshop; teamwork to produce a publication French Club Historian (2015-2016): taking pictures at various French Club events and meetings Savvy Seniors Volunteer (2016-present): helping senior citizens at the Beardall Senior Center learn current technology
Relevant High School Studies Journalism I, IV, V and VI Honors English Honors I, II and III French I, II and III
Honors, Awards and Memberships Florida Scholastic Press Association All-Florida, Student Life Copy (2016) Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Crown winner (2016) National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker winner (2016) NSPA Best of Show first place, 336+ pages (fall 2015 and spring 2016 conferences) Student Member of Parent Teacher Student Association (2013-present) Boone Fellowship of Christian Athletes Representative (2013-present) French Honor Society Member (2015-present) Legend Yearbook Index Editor (2015-present) National Honor Society Member (2015-present) Camp Orlando Third Place Advanced Photography (2015) Reading Lab tutor (2016-present)
References Renee Burke: Yearbook adviser (407) 443-8541 Cassandra Stilwell: Advanced Placement United States History teacher (407) 893-7200 ext.6014244 Glenn Listort: Advanced Placement Chemistry teacher (407) 893-7200 ext. 6014613
2015-2016
portfolio
Self
Analytical Essay a complete collection
me, myself and i. this little section here is basically a summary of how i feel i have improved over the year. it includes my thoughts entering this year and the soft and hard production skills i found most useful.
Hobbies include: driving in my jet-x while i screech trying to sing along to Adele or Taylor swift
self analytical
essay
Over the course of the year, I saw improvement in my skills as a journalist. Despite my difficult junior year, my actual production skills refined and my dedication to the journalism program increased. The importance of teamwork and deadlines reached new heights over the year. My hard production skills like photography, the use of Adobe products and writing have all improved. Photography and the understanding of the different camera settings came more naturally this year, which proved helpful in situations like the Orlando Regional Medical Center disaster drill where people were constantly moving and the lighting was changing. My photographs overall looked better and were used throughout the book. There is definitely a need for more improvement, but I was proud of most of the images I captured this year. Through use of the different Adobe products, like InDesign and Photoshop, I was able to navigate more easily through them and help others on staff to use them. Technology is a whole different language, but I am beginning to understand. My writing skills are the most improved this year, last year my writing was mediocre. My second deadline this year showed how much my writing skills had grown when Mrs. Burke had only a few edits on my body copy, which is rare especially at the beginning of the year. My writing became more cohesive and contained less passive voice than the year before. My soft production skills like working with others on staff have immensely improved over the year. As Index Editor this year, I had to actually talk to others and tell them what they needed gender/racially/grade wise, which I enjoyed being a little bossy. Last year I barely spoke a word, this year I was a complete blabber mouth and I wouldn’t shut up. I made relationships with staffers and was able to work easily with most of the newbies. My dedication to the program has been evident this year saying that around the toughest deadlines I stayed at school until six or eight some nights. I tried to be helpful to others when they had too much on their plates, I offered my help where it was needed, like typing texture quotes or fixing proof corrections for other editors. With such a big staff it is easy to implement teamwork, but this year when I felt I could not do everything myself, there was always someone willing to help and I was generally willing to help others. Deadlines also had more of an effect on me this year, knowing that it would cost us money if we missed deadline caused me to work harder on my actual deadlines and knowing that section editors had to finish the work if we did not, it also made me work harder and do my best so they would not have too many corrections to make. This being my second year on staff and my first year as an editor I have noticed changes in my work ethic, as well as the quality of the work I produced. The work I produced was overall much better than the previous year, my writing and photography have improved more than my design skills. I am not the strongest photographer or designer, but I did take photos this year that I was proud of and took ownership of. My design skills did not improve over the year, I do not see it as my strong suit. Writing is what I believe I am best at, it revolves around asking the right questions and getting good, usable quotes from whoever I am interviewing. Writing came much more naturally to me and helped over shorter deadlines, as well as helping others in my section at deadline 5 with their writing and fitting in an abundance of information in extremely short year in review stories in the back of the book, my domain. In the future, the soft production skills, getting along with those around me and helping, along with teamwork will help in any area. They are skills that are useful in any setting, whether it be in a classroom or in the workplace. The hard production skills will be helpful next year on staff and in any career I pursue that involves design or journalism. Deadlines are helpful in general, especially now having to apply to colleges and finishing up high school next year, I will have to turn in assignments and applications on a certain date or else I face failing or not being able to apply to a certain college. Journalism is one of the few things I have done that will be helpful in my future and has left an impression on me. I entered this year feeling skeptical of my place in yearbook; yes I was coming in as an editor, but with months of no writing, design or photography, I grew nervous about the upcoming year and wondered if I was worthy of my position. I may not be the best or most talented editor, but I am dedicated and a hard worker. I had always wanted to be on a yearbook staff and I am lucky enough that Mrs. Burke allowed me to join. I became friends with people I never thought I would get along with and have built upon relationships with people I have known since fourth grade. I would like to pursue a career in journalism, communications or public relations. If we are being real I would love to be a Good Morning America host because I would be an absolute hoot on television, I am psychotic or as my mother would put it “genuine and lovely�. I know journalism is something I want to do for a professional career, it is what I love. I am incredibly lucky that Mrs. Burke came to Blankner when I was in eighth grade and spoke about Journalism 1 and publications, if I had not taken her class I would not be where I am or have had the opportunities I have endured throughout the years.
2015-2016
portfolio
Reflection
Number One
a complete collection
my reflection number one is what i consider to be my most significant piece of work which happens to be deadline three, the Edgewater rivalry page. it was a challenge to write around a negative story topic.
reflection one My most significant piece of work for the publication this year would be my deadline 3 Edgewater Rivalry page. This piece had drastic change from start to finish, starting with what the headline should be to what the dominant photo should be. However it was my favorite piece of work I did all year, maybe not the best, but nonetheless my favorite. This page was a difficult task to accomplish, we only had one day to take pictures because the Edgewater football game only happens once a year. It is a page in the book every year because of the long standing rivalry between Edgewater and Boone. When I first said I wanted to do the page with Sloan I thought it would be an easy task. I was wrong. I spent the day running around at lunch trying to take pictures of face painting and the banging of the drum, chasing after the senior snake (where I lost my phone and had to search for two hours after school, thankfully no one stole it) and then three hours at a football game taking pictures of everything. Boone was hoping to win the barrel for the fourth time in a row, this was not the case. In the last ten seconds of the game Boone lost. This loss did not make for a positive story angle, our first challenge. It was also quite a task to go through our pictures and find ones that were suitable for the page. In the beginning we had a tall dominant of a cheerleader which evolved to a wide dominant of a student in the crowd. This change came with a lot of hesitance, and honestly I am not too sure of it still. The story, at first glance, seems incredibly negative because we titled it “Bye, Bye Barrel,” this too had a lot of hesitance. The story itself had a rather positive spin that despite the loss and the destruction of property, Boone was the better school and our totem pole stood tall at the end of the day. We did have a cool piece of secondary coverage that described the traditional process of getting a “rivalry mo-hawk”. I would also like to point out that our body copy is up for best of the best student life copy for FSPA. Overall this piece represents myself as a journalist and my year. It was difficult to accomplish and it had a lot happen at once in one day, but in the end it all came out positively.
the original draft
the final draft
2015-2016
portfolio
Reflection
Number Two
a complete collection
reflection two is what i believe are my best pieces of work from the year and that i think deserve to be entered into a contest and why they reflect me as a journalist. it consists of the items i am most proud of from this year. Hobbies include: direct messaging fergie on twitter and trying to get her to speak at graduation next year, a girl can dream
reflection two Y1. Feature Writing: Student Life Deadline 3, Student Life, page 64 This piece was difficult to write, not winning the rivalry game for the first time in three years is hard to endure. However, we spun the story so it reflected the positivity of not retaliating when the rival school vandalized our campus and how it felt to win the past three years. Despite the rough circumstances it was an encouraging story.
Y19. Feature Photo Deadline 3, Student Life, page 65 This picture was originally not supposed to be the dominant photo on the Edgewater page, but it was encouraged that we change it from a cheerleader to a reaction shot of someone during the game. There was a need for a crowd shot because we had a lot of singular pictures.
Y22. Index Deadline 6, Index, pages 393-412 The index was hard to design, it was a struggle. I wanted the index to be unique and match the style of the book. The index is a set in stone section, it has to have names and a year in review. It was difficult to make it unique, I think I kind of accomplished making it unique with how I started the name sections, with the folio quote/cob/quote mark features. It added a little bit extra to the design.
2015-2016
portfolio
Clips
d e a d.
01
d e a d.
07
a complete collection ah, yes, this section happens to be my clips. clips are
every
piece of published work
i have done
throughout the year. it ranges from deadlines to an index to online work.
Hobbies include: photography, design, writing, secondary coverage, wrap ups, photogalleries
writing
bucket list, people, page 186
deadline one
Despite this deadline being a quote page, it was probably the most difficult deadline I had all year. Parker Fluke and I picked the sticky notes because we thought it would be fun...we were wrong. It was difficult to arrange on the page and the initial design was so bad. It got redesigned a number of times. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
writing
welcome back, student life, pages 12-13
deadline two
This piece was my first time writing body copy in the year. I was proud of it because when I got it back from Mrs. Burke it didn’t have many edits. It was an easy topic to come up with but hard to structure because not everyone’s quotes matched up and were fluid together. I was proud of how it turned out. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
writing
EHS and spirit, student life, pages 64-65
deadline three
This page could be put under both photography and writing. I did take most of the pictures on the spread, but I am most proud of the body copy. It was a tough angle to tackle, but I believe Sloan Waranch and I handled it well. It’s my favorite story I’ve written in the past two years. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
writing
flag football, sports, pages 12-13
deadline seven
When I started this page I thought the story would be easy to write because of our topic about the senior heavy team. It was a good story, but we found out that the team was not really “new senior heavy” and so you can’t really tell what the story is about. However it reflects my skills as a sports writer. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
design
index, page 393
deadline six
Creating the index is the only designing I have done on my own (with a little help from Mrs. Burke and Matthew Casler) all year. It was no easy task to accomplish. It was difficult to fit everything we had intended. It was nice to have control of how everything looked and what actually went into the content sections. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
design
index, pages 394-395
deadline six
This, along with the next couple of pages, is a continuation for the index I created and designed. I tried to put in the highlights because it was a part of our style, but it was hard to determine where to put them. I ended up putting them on the dates just because when the events happened were most important for year in review. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
design
index, pages 396-397
deadline six
Another concept in the index is the year in review, it consists of important events that have happened throughout the year. So much happened this year, it was a challenge to narrow it down to 20 or so events. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
design
index, pages 398-399
deadline six
Along with the year in review, I had to organize the stories horizontally and vertically on different pages so when the reader flips the page the stories are not placed like on the prior page. We moved stories around three or four times which required a lot of copying and pasting and moving columns. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
design
index, pages 400-401
deadline six
The headlines were difficult too because there was not room for creativity, there was only so much room available to play around with the headlines. The headlines also had to be a certain length or they would have to be made a size smaller. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
design
index, pages 402-403
deadline six
The stories for the staffers who worked in my section were difficult to write. For a majority of the stories there was a lot that happened in that certain event, but there was not room to include it all. The writers had to stay within a certain word count. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
design
index, pages 404-405
deadline six
Originally the Orlando City Soccer Story was the first in the year in review, we ended up moving it to it’s current place on page 404. I had to rewrite the story because we changed the story from being about the team selling out their first game to how their first professional season turned out. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
design
index, pages 406-407
deadline six
As for the index itself, we tried to include as many people as possible in the book. To accomplish this task we used folio quotes and COBs of students to start off the letter of the alphabet that their last name started with. For example, the girl on page 406 last name starts with P so she begins the P section of the index. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
design
index, pages 408-409
deadline six
We wanted to show readers where the content pages and clubs are within the index so if they knew they were featured on that page they could locate it. We discussed having the sections like student life, academics, clubs, etc. being different colors, but we ended up having content pages blue and advertisements gray. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
design
index, pages 410-411
deadline six
The index required me to be able to fit in an absurd amount of content into one page. We redid the columns of names three times, the first time the names didn’t fill up two of the pages. Mathew Casler was the one who helped me configure the final columns. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
design
index, page 412
deadline six
The final page of the index was a little funky, we added in the Brussels story in at the last minute and had to add in the valedictorians. The names at the top had to be rearranged because they would not fit under their proper letters. Overall I am proud of and happy with my first index design. what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
photo
sports: flag football reference page 31
deadline seven
graphy
what’s mine: photography design writing captions secondary coverage multimedia
photo endsheet
graphy
photo
student life: summer page 11
graphy
photo
clubs: academic clubs page 56
graphy
photo
clubs: academic clubs page 57
graphy
photo
academics: publications page 86
graphy
photo
sports: cheerleading page 129
graphy
photo
theme: community divider page 210
graphy
web
flag football photo gallery March 14
to view the photo gallery click here or visit http://tinyurl.com/zyppr6t
web
flag football photo gallery March 30
to view the photo gallery click here or visit http://tinyurl.com/hn9fe7e
web
flag football wrap up April 12
to read the full story click here or visit http://tinyurl.com/zrpkpmk
web
flag football wrap up April 19
to read the full story click here or visit http://tinyurl.com/h2rmkmf
multi media
yearbook Distribution Day video
to view the video click here or visit http://tinyurl.com/zxev28q
entrepre neurship
Publications recruitment flier
2015-2016
portfolio
Design
pa g e
02
pa g e
03
a complete collection This is a design that I made, potentially to be used in next years yearbook. I made the headline package, secondary coverage and determined the syle that i would use throughout, even including the folio.
Hobbies include: interviewing for folio quotes, creating headline packages, picking color schemes
design one