Editing, Teamwork, and Leadership
In my first year as Editor-in-Chief, our staff never really felt like one united group, so this year, I made it one of my priorities to cultivate a safe, inclusive, and comfortable environment for all members. In the iliad, I've developed my leadership philosophy and dedicated myself to teaching leadership lessons to my staff. I've also noticed the effectiveness of leading by example, so I have taken every opportunity I can to demonstrate strong leadership to my team.
Colleague Quotes
Kaija is the most sure and diligent person I've ever worked with, adults included.
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-Eva Orbock, iliad 2021 Design Editor
Kaija's willingness to collaborate is often shown in the classroom. She is constantly seen communicating with other staffers and lending a helping hand to those on her staff.
- Kalli Samaltanos, ODYSSEY Staffer
Kaija is a passionate and hard-working colleague, it's been amazing to work with her. Working alongside her in the iliad and collaborating with her has been an incredible experience. She is kind and always works diligently to cultivate a positive environment for our staff.
-Olivia Daniel,
2022-23 Design Editor
Kaija's dedication, creativity, and willingness to collaborate have contributed greatly to three visually stunning magazines. Kaija takes everything she does seriously and is an asset to any team.
-Nico Willman, Odyssey Editor
Organizing Club Meetings
One of the most rewarding accomplishments this year for me these past two years has been dedicating myself to our literary-art magazine's club. My intention with restarting our club meetings after the pandemic was to offer all students at Clarke Central a safe space to express themselves creatively and learn about art and writing in a way that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to do. At each meeting, I plan a learning opportunity and an activity, such as watercolors, short story writing prompts, or photography with disposable cameras.
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Click on the photo for a gallery of photos taken at club meetings.
Communication
In a year with many ups and downs, it was crucial to maintain solid communication with colleagues and peers. Our Editorial Board did this through our iMessage group chat and our Leadership Team had separate group chats. We utilized these to communicate about meetings, upcoming events, and reminders. This year, we used the app Slack for communication
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Click on the photo for a gallery of correspondences.
Presenting at GSPA Fall Conference
This fall, I presented at the Georgia Scholastic Press Association Fall Conference at the University of Georgia to a hall of 40 students and advisers. I presented an original presentation on how to successfully run a literary​ magazine. Having always loved public speaking, I loved having the opportunity to teach people about something I was so passionate about. Click on the photo to view my presentation.
Organizing Peer Check-ins
In my first year as Editor, our Managing Editor changed positions to a full-time designer so I took over some of the roles of the managing editor, one of which was holding monthly peer check-ins with our Editorial Board members. We hold these to check on their mental health and how they are feeling about their workload and our leadership. Now in my second year as Editor, my Managing Editor leads these meetings, but he and I will collaboratively plan questions for the check-ins and navigate issues brought to our attention.
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The photo on the right is of my virtual check-in with our Visuals Director.
Awards
In November 2022 at the National Scholastic Press Association Winter Conference, the iliad Literary-Art Magazine was honored as the Best In Show Student Literary Magazine for the 2022 edition of our magazine. Celebrating this victory with my team was a huge highlight of this year. Our 2022 magazine was also named Best in Show for the Georgia Scholastic Press Association Literary Magazine Award and our 2021 magazine received a Pacemaker in March 2022. In the photo on the left, I am accepting my certificate for the 2022 Georgia Junior Champion Journalist Runner-Up Award for my 2022 portfolio.
Holiday Celebrations
Celebrating holidays together as a team has been a fantastic way for students in the program to bond with each other outside of work. We celebrate Friendsgiving with a potluck and an intentional conversation about what we are grateful for. For Valentine's Day, we spend a day making valentines and cards for each other. And for the winter holidays, we host a Secret Holiday Gift Giver where each student gets a meaningful gift for another member of the class, given at our Winter Celebration potluck.
My Leadership Philosophy In Action
I believe that the best leaders seek feedback from those they lead in pursuit of being a stronger and fairer leader. As Editor, I have prioritized hearing from members of the Editorial Board and club how I can better serve them as a leader and what they need from a leader to inspire them. One way I did that was through having a one-on-one meeting with a regular club meeting attendee and asking him what he would like to do more and less of in the club, how I can be more accessible and helpful to the club members, and what aspects of the club could benefit from improvement. I think it is crucial for leaders to listen to this kind of feedback and act on the constructive criticism. Click on the photo to see my notes from the aforementioned meeting.
Leadership Seminars
Our program hosts one Leadership Seminar per semester to train the leaders in our program. We organize activities to prepare leaders for difficult situations they may encounter while leading a staff as well as team bonding and opportunities to learn from other growing leaders.
Staff Norms and Revisiting
At the beginning of every year, our Editorial Board agrees upon norms, values, and goals for the upcoming year. I ensure that every member gets to add their own norm so everyone feels represented in our core values. Every few months, our team revisits these norms, values, and goals to refresh ourselves ​and recenter our intentions.
Click on the photo to view ours from this year.
Staff Conflict
In my time as Editor, I have had to resolve conflicts on staff numerous times. When I was new to the role, I was very conflict-avoidant and inexperienced with managing personnel issues. However, as time went on, I became more confident in the role and was able to have honest dialogue with teammates and ultimately find wholeness and resolution.
Representing the iliad at Booster Club Meetings
I, with the help of my Co-Editor, worked to represent our organization at the ODYSSEY Media Group Booster Club meetings. We advocated for our needs such as supplying breakfast to our club members at meetings and supplying the members with art supplies for our meetings' creative activities.
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