YALE SENIOR SPOTLIGHT
A yearly project showcasing some of our future’s finest in New Haven’s area schools.
This project was a collaboration between the New Haven Register and Yale University.
KIDS ALWAYS COME FIRST. I have sworn by this since the day my oldest was born. We all want the best for our children and I am no different than you. The struggles I have experienced together with them in our school systems and at home – through tears and jubilations – have made me become aware of my children’s hopes and dreams and how difficult it is for some of our children to achieve them. Every child is unique and each of them has hidden talents. Our job, as parents and educators, is to nurture them with every opportunity possible to discover their path of success, talent and make a positive impact on others.
The Yale Senior Spotlight program showcases some of our amazing Connecticut students in the New Haven Register’s 55 area schools. We hope these students are destined to change our communities. Or further, to go above and beyond to make changes for a better world.
Every morning at home for the past 12 years, I start by checking my children’s PowerSchool system to see how they are doing. Yes, they know I do this at 6 a.m. every… single… school day. Their grades, their missing assignments, and if they were present in class or tardy are the three key areas I scan for. This daily process often is followed by a quick message to fix something or a more formal meeting on how to correct something before I make my journey down to the kitchen and confront them. They cringe, sometimes rolling their eyes, sometimes telling me “it’s no big deal” or “I don’t need the points” – say what???? They simply know it’s coming when there is something wrong. This happens from late August through the end of June. I spend the days after school ends, during the summer tidying up loose ends. Collecting report cards, making notes on what I expect from both my kids and the school system the following year and drafting emails on my son’s IEP later to be polished off and sent on the first day of school to each of his teachers.
The Yale Senior Spotlight program usually starts in March. Conversations happen, the photographer is identified, contracts are signed. Then comes the fun part. Collecting student’s biographies, editing them, contacting the schools for corrections and missing information. I am in direct contact with the photographers. Our organized system of accounting for all the students is seamless. The photographers are great. One of my favorite parts of this project is hosting a photo day (or two) for those students not able to have had their pictures taken on location at their schools. It is at this moment I delight in wonderful dialogue with some of our amazing students and see that twinkle in their eye when they speak of a career they are passionate about. Once all photos and bios have been polished I design all of this wonderful content onto pages of the New Haven Register. Up to 6 students on a page, per school. I then work with Yale University on the bottom 1/3rd of the page designing an ad that is specially curated for each page. Once Yale gives their final approval, I have my editorial team proof the final page. I make any last-minute corrections, create a PDF for the advertising department and a JPG for the web department. All of the above is carefully documented on a master spreadsheet so editors can see the progress of each page I am working on. As exhausting as this was to read, the journey is so rewarding as I feel I have met many of our future athletes, politicians, teachers, authors, musicians, artists, mechanics, hairdressers and the list goes on. And, I was never willing to share this project. I enjoy every step from beginning to end.
The program kicked off on Father’s Day every year. Thereafter, every Tuesday and Thursday of each week we presented a different school in random order. This usually runs into the beginning of the next school year. Knowing this, collecting all the correct information and photos in the beginning stages is crucial as these students are on their next stage in life. Once they graduate, they run off to be the best they can be.
Enjoy our 55 schools from random years between 2011 and 2019.
