From ideation to assembly, Sara Martin details the process that produces this publication.

By Sara Martin ’21

Since virtual learning began, every Cary Academy student’s inbox has been flooded with emails:  Zoom links, assignment reminders, club updates, and for the seniors, dozens of colleges urging them to apply.

It’s easy to get lost in the sea of unread emails, and it can be tempting to delete those that appear non-essential. However, a few times each school year, the Cary Academy community is graced by a very special message: there’s a new issue of the Campitor! While some may promptly delete the email, if you’re reading this article, you’re likely one of the awesome people who decided to consume the hard work of your peers and stay informed on the happenings of the Cary Academy community.

But the Campitor doesn’t just spawn out of nowhere- it’s produced by a well-oiled system that has been fine tuned by years of CA students.  However, despite the professional outcome, the club itself is rather relaxed.

There are in person (or Zoom, for now) meetings every couple of weeks where members bounce around topic ideas and discuss goals with each other. However, the bulk of the work to put the newspaper together is done individually and online, making it adaptable to virtual learning. writers organize their work in a shared OneNote notebook and have an “article ladder” to keep track of who is responsible for writing and editing certain pieces. The topic of the article goes in the leftmost column of the three column table and the author writes their name in the middle column. Whoever wishes to edit a particular article places their name in the far right column of the chart. Write an article, edit an article, and congratulations- you are officially Campitor staff!

After all the articles are written and edited, editors transform the newspaper from a series of OneNote pages into a formatted publication. “Last year’s editor, Cate Pitterle, actually created several InDesign ‘templates’ specifically for The Campitor, so McKay opens those templates and adapts them to the issue we are making (and articles we’re inputting),” explains Claire Ferris, the co-leader of the club. Ferris also regularly posts all the articles to The Campitor’s blog.

The relaxed organization of the club extends to the vast variety of topics featured.  While many articles are CA specific, there’s lots of room for creativity.  For example, many students write political opinion pieces, which serve as an opportunities for authors to share their points of view and as an opportunity for readers to expand their perspectives. The Campitor also frequently includes cartoons, advice columns, and sports updates. Ferris says that the unique article topics are her favorite part of the club, writing that “The Campitor inspires and encourages [a] passion for writing and combines this with a curiosity surrounding the stories of CA students and what makes them unique.”  The narration of CA related events from students’ perspectives blended with creative articles on what students are passionate about outside of school is what makes the Campitor a unique snapshot of the Cary Academy community.