I would like to take this opportunity to introduce next year’s Free Press staff. Nine are returning staff, seven having just completed their rookie year. With little or no experience, they helped win nine awards for the paper, in such categories as design, news writing, first person experience, and overall quality. Coming back with a year of experience only means the paper will continue to impress and surprise people.
EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Stephen Peoples- Steve is returning for his third year with The Free Press. He began as a staff writer, followed by this year’s role as News Editor. He has freelanced for the Sun Journal in Lewiston and is currently a news clerk at the Portland Press Herald. He is an award winning journalist.
NEWS EDITOR: Meghan Conley- Meghan just finished her first year on staff. Although her title was General Manager, she did everything from illustrations, news stories, columns, editing, and general office upkeep. She is this year’s Free Press “Rookie of the Year” and will return as the head of the news department. She is a team player who is always willing to go the extra mile. If she’s not in her office next year, check the pinball machine at Bleacher’s. She currently freelances at the Portland Press Herald.
PHOTO EDITOR: Chris Baker- Chris is returning for his second full year on staff. He began his tenure as a staff writer where he became or resident police reporter. During his first year he challenged police for increased access to information and created award winning in-depth coverage of the police. This semester he began taking photographs as well as continuing his police beat. One of his photographs is currently featured in “Words and Images” collection. He just completed an internship for the Sun Journal in Lewiston as a reporter for the Sunday paper.
ART EDITOR: Alex Steed- Alex joined the staff this year as a high school senior. He began his relationship to The Free Press by coming in on production day to simply watch what we do out of his own desire to learn about journalism. He began writing this semester and his interest, enthusiasm, intelligence, and persistence make him an exciting prospect for Arts Editor. He currently publishes his own ‘zine, called “No Magazine”.
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Aaron Paul- Aaron completed a successful first year as Production Manager. With no prior experience in newspaper design, he won third place for page design, and was an integral part of our two overall awards. This year he created graphics, wrote articles, and produced a weekly column. His second year will, no doubt, be even stronger than his first.
ALIVE EDITOR: Kristie Green- Kristie completed her rookie year at The Free Press with a national award for writing about her trip to Cuba. She also redesigned the Sports section to better serve the community. “Alive” now includes sports, a weekly “Health beat”, and articles on better living. She also brought us Jezebel, our canine mascot.
GENERAL MANAGER: Sherry Whittemore- Sherry has been with the paper for three years as a photographer, Photo Editor, and writer. She won third place for general news photography. As the senior staff member next year, people will look to her for advice and guidance. Her positive attitude and enthusiasm are will be invaluable on long production days. She is currently a news clerk at the Portland Press Herald.
ADVERTISING MANAGER: Kristina Gefvert- Kristina will return again next year heading up the ad department. This year she’s learned Mac OS, and QuarkXpress, on top of what it takes to sell ads. Her strong personality keeps ads coming in and revenue high. Her sales exceeded expectations this year and will only continue to grow.
COPY EDITOR: Emily Field- Emily volunteered this year to add to her copy editing experience. She currently works full-time for a book publisher and takes classes. She has a keen eye for detail and continues to teach the staff correct proofreading marks. Underneath that sweet exterior is a grammatical error’s worst nightmare.
WEB EDITOR/GRAPHICS: Melissa Cutting- Melissa is a media studies senior who is joining the staff for the first time. She currently works at the Phoenix doing graphics and layout.
ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER: Brent Rand- Brent is a media studies major who wants to learn the basics of newspaper design to add to his production media savvy. He currently works for WCSH 6 in news production.
Congratulations to Arts Editor Selena Ricks who will be starting a full-time job with the Portland Press Herald as a news reporter. Way to go!
Congratulations to staff writer Tyler Stanley who was voted to be the Student Senate Secretary for the next school year. The Free Press will, no doubt, be in touch.
Congratulations to Circulation Manager Narissa Quinn who is graduating this semester and getting married this summer.
I would also like to thank staff members who are graduating or moving on to life after The Free Press . Staff writers Kate Bucklin and John McCarthy, Copy Editor Scott Marcoux, Web Editor Ben Boudreau, and Photo Editor Rachel Sieben.
Kate has been with the paper for two years and come a long way. This year her writing sparked with a new maturity and professional quality. She will no doubt continue a career in print.
John is a talented reporter who writes some of the paper’s finest leads. He is thorough, original, and amazingly dedicated to his job. I hope he considers a career in journalism if the whole card-shark thing doesn’t work out.
Scott has been with the paper for 3 loyal years and should be able to name his price as a professional copy editor. You have trained us well.
Ben took on the web page for a class project and kept us part of the 21st century. Too bad we didn’t have him all year.
Rachel joined the staff as a photographer first semester and moved into the editor position second semester. She’s recruited, trained, and retained a record number of excellent photojournalists.
I would also like to thank our adviser Bonny Rodden. She has counseled, trained, advised, and unselfishly supported the entire staff all year. We could never thank her enough.