Co-Editors of The Dispatch are Praised
Publishing a newspaper is no easy chore. It's more time consuming than most people realize. Some have compared the enterprise to walking through a minefield, only instead of explosive devices one needs to keep an eye open to politics, personalities and deadlines, at the very least.
Seniors Carrie Fante and Natasha Stollmack have earned praise for their work as co-editors-in-chief with The Dispatch, Huntington High School's student newspaper. The duo has proved masterful at working together, with a staff of student reporters and section editors, teachers, support staff and coaches and faculty advisor James Graber.
"To anyone that asks me, I always say the single most demanding student leadership position in the high school is that of editor-in-chief of The Dispatch," Mr. Graber told the crowd at Huntington's senior academic awards night. "The ability to organize, edit and layout the paper, combined with the need to manage and motivate the staff, requires an immense skill set that few students possess."
Ms. Stollmack is headed to the University of Delaware in the fall while Ms. Fante, Huntington's Class of 2011 valedictorian, will be attending the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Graber presented the two teenagers with special journalism awards during Huntington's senior academic awards night earlier this month.
"Though at times it was frustrating, I loved being on The Dispatch this year," Ms. Fante said. "I loved my experience with everyone on the editorial board, especially my co-editor, 'Tash.' Of course, there is a lot of stress before we put out each issue. I don't think most of the school understands what goes on behind-the-scenes the last few days before a paper goes to print. Basically Tash and I cannot have a conversation without bringing up Dispatch."
"When push came to shove Natasha always did whatever was necessary to get the paper out," Mr. Graber said. "She did a lot of the behind the scenes work that made the paper a success this year."
The faculty advisor was just as generous in detailing Ms. Fante's role in making The Dispatch a must-read for the high school community. "Carrie's affable nature and attention to detail helped bring together a staff that is involved in a multitude of other clubs and activities," Mr. Graber said. "She will truly be missed as a leader for our club."
"We had very ambitious plans at the beginning of the year but they were not fully realized," Ms. Fante said. "However, I am still so proud of the papers we have put out. Tash is incredible with all the work that she has done and how much she has improved her layout skills over the year. We also had so much help from our graphics editor David Stillman, who came in knowing very little about the position, but always managed to get us a picture when we really need one."
The Dispatch handsomely benefitted from the hard work of graduating senior editors Shira Moskowitz (University of Michigan), Amy Eisen (Northeastern University), Mike Valente (Syracuse University) and Mr. Stillman (Northwestern University). The group "consistently contributed to the production of our paper," Mr. Graber said. "I will miss all of them."
"We really appreciate the work of these talented seniors who have made The Dispatch so successful this year," Superintendent John J. Finello said. "Everyone looks forward to reading the latest issue."
Dylan Ferber, who picked up a journalism award at this month's senior academic awards dinner "has also been a fantastic help taking pictures this year," Ms. Fante said. "Our advisor, Mr. Graber has been so helpful and I am so grateful to him for sticking with us. He is always there to critique the paper, even when we really don't want to hear it and is never willing to sacrifice the quality of the paper just to get it published."
While it's hard to say goodbye to such an exceptional group, Mr. Graber prefers to see the glass half-full. "Their graduations will be opening up a number of positions of responsibility for next year," he said. "Any underclassmen looking to get great experience in a highly coveted extra-curricular activity should stop by room 205 in September." Mr. Graber can be contacted via e-mail at jgraber@hufsd.edu.