Periscope Editors

Periscope Copy Editor

The Copy Editor is primarily responsible for compiling all Periscope submissions into a single, finalized, and properly formatted final Periscope draft that is submitted to the Layout Editor. The Copy Editor sends Periscope deadline email reminders monthly to faculty, staff and parent board members. S/he solicits articles and collects material submitted for publication, drafts some articles, edits and reformats all submissions following guidelines established by all the Periscope editors and creates a working draft which is circulated to all the Periscope editors. The Copy Editor participates in a general editorial meeting attended by all Periscope editors to review all submitted articles, photographs, and graphics. The Copy Editor corrects the draft to reflect changes discussed at the general editorial meeting and submits the new draft to the Head of School and the Layout Editor. The Copy Editor insures that any additional edits are incorporated in the final layout. Attendance at the Parents’ Association Board meetings is helpful.

Periscope Layout Editor

As Layout Editor, I participate in the general Monday editing review of articles and photographs submitted to the College Prep Periscope.  Occasionally, I will solicit artwork or photographs from the school staff or parents to include in an issue.

On Tuesday, upon receiving the final corrected draft of the text and any accompanying photographs or graphics, I lay them out in QuarkXPress using the saved Periscope template. I use Adobe Photoshop to prepare images. I find it easiest to start with a layout in color (which will be used as the online version) and then to convert it to black and white for the printed version. A pdf of the layout is then sent via email to the Head of School and the Periscope Editor for a final check.

I generally email the printer early in the week to alert them. On Wednesday morning, the newsletter is converted to a PDF file and emailed to FastPrint. The newsletter is printed in black and white on their DocuColor printer.  We are using 60# Domtar, 11” x 17”, and the pages are machine folded in half but not collated. The Contributing Editor delivers the calendar to FastPrint to be printed on blue paper. I pick up the pages at the end of the day on Thursday and deliver them to school so that they are there for the mailing committee Friday at 8:15am.  The cost is paid by me by credit card, and I then get reimbursed by the Association Treasurer. I am responsible for making sure that we stay within budget for the year.

To prepare the color online edition, I export to a high resolution PDF, create web and email links, and from that, also create a low resolution version.  I then send them both to Linh Tran at the CPS Office, for her to post online.  I usually do that by the mailing date.

Periscope Contributing Editor (2)

The Periscope Contributing Editor is primarily responsible for writing Periscope articles and soliciting articles from others in the CPS community. The Contributing Editor conducts interviews and takes photographs for inclusion in Periscope. The Contributing Editor actively solicits and edits articles drafted by others, collaborating with faculty members, parents, board members, or students to develop articles for Periscope. The Contributing Editor participates in a general editorial meeting attended by all Periscope editors to review all submitted articles, photographs, and graphics.

Periscope Mail Coordinator

The Periscope Mail Coordinator is primarily responsible for sorting, labeling, and mailing all finished Periscope newsletters. The mailer receives the printed Periscope from the editor once a month during the school year, historically (but not necessarily) on a Friday morning.  The Periscope pages are collected and folded; mailing labels (supplied by the school secretary) are affixed and placed in zip code order in USPS boxes.  This portion is typically done on school premises (faculty lounge, Smith Room, etc.) and best performed by a small team (3-5 collator/folder/labelers) recruited by the mailer.  The mailer then fills out a USPS form and delivers the boxes to the Main Post Office (7th Street) in Oakland for bulk mailing.  (Bulk mailing saves approx. $180/month in postage.)  If the mailer has adequate folding help, the total time is 4-5 hours a month.

revised 5/20/2008