With most of the work split up among the editing staff, writing for The Roundup is closer to a real job than step-by-step instructions by a teacher. This editing staff, led by the Editor-in-Chief, keeps The Roundup running like an efficient unit, delegating articles and overseeing the intricacies of the writing process. Not only do these senior editors each oversee an individual section of the newspaper, but also they seek out the most intriguing stories that are in need of reporting.
As the current seniors prepared to graduate, Dr. Degen and next year’s Editor-in-Chief Blake DeLong ’16 announced the upcoming Senior Editor staff, which will continue The Roundup’s legacy of excellence and quality reporting. In total, ten seniors will assume leadership positions in The Roundup and provide experienced guidance to the next group of writers.
Making many contributions in his first year at The Roundup, Alex Motter ’16 earned the title of Managing Editor. While overseeing all of the other Senior Editors, this position also helps Chief DeLong create exciting new projects and moves The Roundup forward with positive innovation. As former club secretary and active member of the Junior Classical League, communications director of the Jesuit Marketing and Design Club, Eagle Scout and former Senior Patrol Leader of his Boy Scout troop, and vice president of the Model UN Club, Alex demonstrates the leadership skills that are required by the position. Within The Roundup, Alex currently works as a junior editor, helping correct and check over articles so that they are ready for publication. Alex has lofty plans for next year, one goal being the introduction of more pieces similar to his mental illness piece, as he is “interested in psychology and mental health.” The team of Alex and Blake share many objectives for next year, including “trying to get more people to join The Roundup and simultaneously getting stronger connections with everyone within The Roundup.” One of the fundamental focuses he zeroed in on was organization, which Alex plans to use more effectively, allowing The Roundup “to run more smoothly.” Under his and Blake’s guidance, Alex believes next year will be very successful and that those in The Roundup will be inspired to follow his instructions.
The News Editor truly is an expert on all things Jesuit. By staying up to date on all news throughout the school, this unique editing position allows for a writer to create ties with the entire school. Clay Phillips ’16 clearly fits the profile of this position, his pristine track record at The Roundup only bolstering his qualifications. Currently a Junior Associate Editor, Clay oversees Tennis and Wrestling, staying in touch with coaches and assigning articles from each club’s events. Since monitoring these clubs requires checking a schedule for upcoming events and establishing dialogue with coaches, he has already executed the essential components of the news editing position. Clay has all the positive traits of “great communication skills, [dedication, and responsibility] to keep up with everything that’s happening at Jesuit,” essential skills an editor of this importance needs. Unlike many of the other positions, which are evolving to expand further into the community, Phillips wants to maintain the same standard of efficiency the previous editor Blake DeLong did. Instead, Clay would rather focus his efforts on “[generating] more excitement surrounding news and [breaking the] perception of news as boring,” breathing further life into each and every article written. With this serious task in mind, Phillips will continue to report all of the school’s news quickly and effectively.
One of the components of the Profile of the Jesuit Graduate and a crucial activity within the Jesuit community is athletics, and no one is an expert on sports quite like Jack Durham ’16. Jack is the only editor on the list who will retain his previous year’s position, his time as Sports Editor now spanning both his junior and senior year. His job carries a large responsibility, “[making] sure there is coverage for all the sports in a timely manner” and “[assigning] out features of athletes and other distinguished members of the sports community.” Although Jack will continue managing sports with the same level of excellence, he has big plans for improvement in the upcoming year. Jack would like to expedite the reporting process on sports articles, releasing them more “effectively and quickly.” A large volume of articles about sports are published throughout the year, and this higher amount can create delays in publishing of certain stories. However, Jack plans to raise the bar, wanting to have every single sports article “posted within a week of the event.” In addition to speedier releases, Jack would like to widen the scope of articles within the sports section. With the recent updates to the community profile and opinions sections, he plans to encourage the writing of more sports opinion pieces, such as season predictions and discussion of current news within the sports world outside of Jesuit. Durham enters this next year with high aspirations, excited to interact with the new staff and to make profound changes.
The best person to teach leadership is a good leader, and this is most certainly true for Michael Boyson ’16. As the new Junior Editor Manager, Michael will oversee all the 11th grade Junior Editors and their articles. He plans to promote and instill leadership within these writers by monitoring their writing to ensure quality articles. Michael Boyson’s qualifications are evident, displaying many leadership roles and winning many awards which reflect his merit. Some of these accomplishments include active membership of the swim team, participation in many leadership and service organizations, and the prestigious honor of winning the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. Michael plans to utilize his leadership experience to benefit the club, “encouraging rising sophomores” to join The Roundup and write about their interests. By increasing the variety and number of writers, the readership base and diversity of topics will hopefully increase tantamount. He also plans to instill ethics and accountability within each editor, their training and professionalism extending beyond “what [he] directly tells them to do.” Michael will be a very positive influence on not just the Junior Editors, but the whole writer staff in general, and will take up the important task of training the next generation of senior editors.
Ryan Schaffler ’16 enjoys the finer things in life, fine arts that is, and he is excited to be the new arts and media editor for The Roundup. The Arts and Media Editor must ensure that all reviews and reports on all the various media of arts meet The Roundup’s standards. Ryan is certainly a qualified person for this job, using his “extensive interest and knowledge of the media, television, and film” to guarantee quality articles. He plans to use the skills he has learned over his years in The Roundup to help younger writers improve, acting as both a writer and a Junior Editor before this position. Ryan hopes to “increase the variety and expand” the section in response to what he calls “sparser” coverage of arts and media this year. He will bring the same amount of enthusiasm and passion which he brings to his other involvements in the Jesuit community, such as Medical Society and PALS. The arts and media editor needs close connections with Jesuit’s wonderful fine arts departments and extracurriculars like band, orchestra, and theater, keeping the Jesuit community up to date with the latest developments. Since Ryan has significant experience in these clubs, he plans to use his “involvement in the arts at Jesuit” to provide quality reporting both inside and outside the 28 acres. Schaffler looks forward to using his incredible abilities to breathe life into the Roundup’s arts and media section.
Blake and Alex also created two new positions, both of which allow The Roundup to publish articles more efficiently. First is the position of Article Supervisor, which is shared by both Thomas Horton ’16 and Hunter Gilbert ’16. Gilbert described the position as “monitoring the spreadsheet, making sure writers are continually writing and keeping up deadlines,” an important component of maintaining consistency with story publishing. Excited to combine his technology experience and love for the club, Horton will also work to “[keep] everything clean and well formatted” not only on the homepage but also on the admin site. Since a lot of the writer’s work happens independent of The Roundup website, both editors will assist in keeping organization optimal and most efficient. Gilbert sees the editing position as a positive chance at real world experience, “planning on duel majoring in journalism and broadcasting in college.” Both are excited to accept higher leadership roles next year, Hunter currently an integral podcast member and Thomas one of the hardworking Junior Editors. What excites Thomas is the room to grow, the novelty of the position making him excited “to be one of the first people to hold [it].” This position helps support the new administration’s goals and foster a productive atmosphere in the new Roundup.
With each opinion piece comes a whirlwind of controversy and conversation, and this enormous task will be split between the capable hands of Sam Betanzos ’16 and Josh Cobler ’16. As viewpoint editors, they will be in charge of all opinion or op-ed pieces, “giving advice on viewpoint articles” while encouraging “more diverse people to write articles.” In addition to managing the writers of these stories, both will look for interesting and unique pieces to write about which extend beyond the usual articles. By widening the readership of the paper, a larger discussion about broader issues will expand throughout the school. Josh is excited to bring these positive changes to the paper, wanting to “make it really exciting so there’s more to The Roundup than the just the normal articles we’ve seen over the past year.” Sam stresses “hardships, exciting times and interesting experiences” within the Jesuit community and beyond will help fill this section with interesting stories. Both editors highly anticipate making a change in this coming year and are ecstatic to share more diverse stories with the entire school.
These editors join Blake as the new faces of The Roundup, using their various skills and experiences to help further the club into a new year. With big plans and strong work ethics, these student leaders will help improve student reporting and diversify the news for the upcoming years.
