A Club's Inspiring Transformation:
The Decline and Revival of The Spectrum
BY SOPHIE ZHANG '22
From assembling the newspaper’s layout by hand in the ’90s to conducting meetings over Zoom in our present day, The Spectrum continues to evolve. However, I learned last year that The Spectrum I know and love today differs greatly from what it once was. There wasn’t always an organized process of writing articles or a precise structure to running meetings. In fact, The Spectrum couldn’t even afford to print around five years ago. With an ever-rotating staff, our beloved newspaper has surely had its ups and downs since its founding in 1982.
Between 2014 and 2016, The Spectrum experienced “a steep decline,” according to Ms. Hammond, the newspaper’s advisor since 2005. She points out that there were “some less motivated members of the editorial staff” who had inherited the titles but “weren’t contributing a lot.” One leader in particular had other commitments and couldn’t be regularly relied on. Few were coming to meetings and recruiting writers, and articles were pulled together at the last minute. Furthermore, no one was willing to sell advertisements and raise money to print The Spectrum, leading to a virtual newspaper in 2015. However, creating a website lacked appeal to staff members who weren’t already devoted to producing a printed newspaper. Overall, it was a frustrating time.
Eventually, for the 2016-17 school year, Ms. Hammond was able to appoint a new Editor-in-Chief who “had a deep motivation to bring the paper back to [life].” The new EIC, Pooji Jonnavithula (’17), shrunk the editorial staff from 12-13 members to 4-5. With a core group who really cared about the paper, The Spectrum was able to focus its attention toward raising money and creating more meaningful articles on time for publication. The chief staff cut a few writing sections and added a Publicity and Finance (P&F) team dedicated to selling advertisements in the newspaper. Mrs. Hammond found P&F to be a new and “huge improvement,” as it ensured steady printing. Ms. Hammond states that Pooji “really inspired the next sets of editors that came after her.”
After grasping a new, steady foundation, The Spectrum used 2017-2018 to open more chief positions and further expand the publication. Nithyani Anandakugan (’19) and Jasmine Mangat (’19), the 2017-2019 EICs, created a Reporting Team to conduct larger investigations into the AB community. Similarly, the newspaper became more involved with local news, a passion spearheaded by Michael Cheng (’20), last year’s News Editor.
Even though The Spectrum has regained steady footing since its decline, it continues to grow today. The pandemic has necessitated a plethora of adaptations, including Zoom meetings and online publications. Writing workshops have become a weekly routine, and the EICs have been trying to build a tighter community by scheduling group editing sessions and encouraging 1:1 Zoom meetings with section editors. Lastly, the chief staff just released a podcast with more episodes coming soon!
In the end, Ms. Hammond states that “the main thing that has come through in the last few years is that the paper belongs to students, and it's not me driving them to do what they need to do.” Ms. Hammond is proud of the greater sense of ownership and self-sufficiency that leaders have established at the newspaper. She thinks that The Spectrum’s success gives high schoolers a lot of confidence; with the newspaper’s revival, students are realizing their potential to create effective change in a community. Extracurriculars and chief staff positions, especially, are great leadership builders: “There's nothing comparable for high school students.”
Between 2014 and 2016, The Spectrum experienced “a steep decline,” according to Ms. Hammond, the newspaper’s advisor since 2005. She points out that there were “some less motivated members of the editorial staff” who had inherited the titles but “weren’t contributing a lot.” One leader in particular had other commitments and couldn’t be regularly relied on. Few were coming to meetings and recruiting writers, and articles were pulled together at the last minute. Furthermore, no one was willing to sell advertisements and raise money to print The Spectrum, leading to a virtual newspaper in 2015. However, creating a website lacked appeal to staff members who weren’t already devoted to producing a printed newspaper. Overall, it was a frustrating time.
Eventually, for the 2016-17 school year, Ms. Hammond was able to appoint a new Editor-in-Chief who “had a deep motivation to bring the paper back to [life].” The new EIC, Pooji Jonnavithula (’17), shrunk the editorial staff from 12-13 members to 4-5. With a core group who really cared about the paper, The Spectrum was able to focus its attention toward raising money and creating more meaningful articles on time for publication. The chief staff cut a few writing sections and added a Publicity and Finance (P&F) team dedicated to selling advertisements in the newspaper. Mrs. Hammond found P&F to be a new and “huge improvement,” as it ensured steady printing. Ms. Hammond states that Pooji “really inspired the next sets of editors that came after her.”
After grasping a new, steady foundation, The Spectrum used 2017-2018 to open more chief positions and further expand the publication. Nithyani Anandakugan (’19) and Jasmine Mangat (’19), the 2017-2019 EICs, created a Reporting Team to conduct larger investigations into the AB community. Similarly, the newspaper became more involved with local news, a passion spearheaded by Michael Cheng (’20), last year’s News Editor.
Even though The Spectrum has regained steady footing since its decline, it continues to grow today. The pandemic has necessitated a plethora of adaptations, including Zoom meetings and online publications. Writing workshops have become a weekly routine, and the EICs have been trying to build a tighter community by scheduling group editing sessions and encouraging 1:1 Zoom meetings with section editors. Lastly, the chief staff just released a podcast with more episodes coming soon!
In the end, Ms. Hammond states that “the main thing that has come through in the last few years is that the paper belongs to students, and it's not me driving them to do what they need to do.” Ms. Hammond is proud of the greater sense of ownership and self-sufficiency that leaders have established at the newspaper. She thinks that The Spectrum’s success gives high schoolers a lot of confidence; with the newspaper’s revival, students are realizing their potential to create effective change in a community. Extracurriculars and chief staff positions, especially, are great leadership builders: “There's nothing comparable for high school students.”
