2020-2021 Yearbook Copy Editor
Initial Story
In the world of theatre, thousands of young and inspired actors are searching to find their true calling; it is difficult to find stand-out actors and actresses, simply because it is a very popular interest and job field (especially for young people). Jessica Immel, being a diamond in the very cutthroat acting world, is an extraordinary young actress, chasing after her dreams to pursue a career in theatrical production. From a young age, Immel didn’t entirely fancy the idea of becoming an actress; In actuality, she was drawn to the idea of acting by hints from her parents, after suffering numerous gymnastics injuries too young. Immel mentioned, “ I got involved in theatre sometime during 5th grade, it wasn’t my first choice… even though I was ready to go back [to gymnastics], my parents weren’t quite on the same page. They said I had to choose something else, and theatre was what I gravitated to.” Over the course of her young and developing theatre career, Immel has engaged in productions put on by Academy of Children’s/Community Theatre (ACT), as well as teaching theatre-classes to fellow young-actors and actresses via the same program. During her time acting for the ACT program, Immel has played lead roles in numerous dramas, including The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, The Legend of Robin Hood, and Dr. Suess- inspired play, Seussical. Throughout acting in community theatre groups and productions, Immel gained respect and inspiration from her close friend Sarah, who acted in many of the same plays as she did, “Sarah was one of the most talented people I will ever know.”
When it comes to high-school theatre, Immel immediately stands-out from other theatre participants. In the past 3 productions she has participated in, she has played leading female roles (Ann Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank, Katherine in Newsies, and Milly in 7 Brides for 7 Brothers). It doesn’t stop there, Immel additionally has participated in the coordination of the school’s annual student-participation production, RamAntics and she holds the Presidency of the Thespian Society. The Thespian Society is a club that many fellow young actors and actresses (within the school) utilize to become further immersed into the Theatre community. Despite many new adjustments due to Coronavirus, Immel looks forward to coordinating many 2020 Thespian Society events, “ The Thespian Society plays a big part in organizing and advertising shows as well as giving students the opportunity to go up to Denver (annually) to participate in Thescon.” Immel wishes to continue growth onto the Thespian Society and to the school theatre program because of its importance to her, and to the school, “I have gained so much by joining Rampart Theatre and I want to be able to play an active role in growing the program and allowing it to help others the way it did for me.”
Theatre for young actress Immel has provided many avenues for personal connection, establishment of new friendships, and many new learning experiences. For her, theatre has always meant more than just roles, costumes, and acting, “it is about the way we all come together.” Over her years of stage-acting, Immel has recognized the generosity aspect of theatre and how everyone on-cast is in constant support of one another. Despite looking like chaos, each set consists of a cast and crew that tries to help each other in every way possible. In the midst of being a part of many different casting-calls, Immel found that the most impacting roles were the ones she felt she could connect with in real life, “My favorite part was Anne Frank. I felt like I was able to share an important and true story whereas most characters I’ve played were entirely fictional. Anne felt like a purposeful role that had the potential to make an impact.”
Immel hopes to kickstart her career in professional theatre by first pursuing a degree in theatre education & performance, hopefully at her choice university, Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts. Following college, Immel wishes to further her education with a Master’s Degree, and then to settle down, and possibly teach theatre to young aspiring actors like herself. Immel hopes to not only to further the theatre world, but also her talents, in light of finding her true calling as an important piece in the largely popular theatre world.
Edited Version
In the world of theatre, thousands of young and inspired actors are searching to find their true calling; it is increasingly difficult to find stand-out actors and actresses, simply because it is a very popular interest and job field, especially for young people. Jessica Immel ‘21, is a glimmering diamond in the very cutthroat acting world, just waiting to be uncovered, chasing after her dreams to pursue a career in theatrical production. From a young age, Immel didn’t entirely fancy the idea of becoming an actress—in actuality, she was drawn to the idea of acting by hints from her parents, after suffering numerous gymnastics injuries too young. Immel mentioned, “I got involved in theatre sometime during 5th grade, it wasn’t my first choice… even though I was ready to go back [to gymnastics], my parents weren’t quite on the same page. They said I had to choose something else, and pursuing theatre was what I gravitated to.” Over the course of her young and developing theatre career, Immel has engaged in productions put on by the Academy of Children’s/Community Theatre (ACT), as well as participating in teaching theatre classes to fellow young actors and actresses via the same program. During her time acting for the ACT program, Immel has played lead roles in numerous dramas, including The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, The Legend of Robin Hood, and the Dr. Suess-inspired play, Seussical. Throughout acting in community theatre groups and productions, Immel gained respect and inspiration from her close friend Sarah, who acted in many of the same plays as she did, “Sarah was one of the most talented people I will ever know.”
When it comes to high school theatre, Immel immediately stands-out from other theatre participants. In the past three productions that she has participated in, she has played leading female roles (Anne Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank, Katherine in Newsies, and Milly in 7 Brides for 7 Brothers). It doesn’t stop there, Immel additionally has participated in the coordination of the school’s annual student-participation production, RamAntics, and she holds the Presidency of the Thespian Society. The Thespian Society is a club that many fellow young actors and actresses (, within the school) , utilize to become further immersed intoin the Ttheatre community. Despite many new adjustments due to Coronavirus, Immel looks forward to coordinating many 2020 Thespian Society events, “ The Thespian Society plays a big part in organizing and advertising shows as well as giving students the opportunity to go up to Denver (annually) to participate in Thescon.” Immel wishes to continue growth onto the to grow the Thespian Society and to the school theatre program, becauseand she is driven to do this because of its importance to her, and to the school, “I have gained so much by joining Rampartour school Ttheatre and I want to be able to play an active role in growing the program and allowing it to help others the way it did for [helped] me.”
Theatre for the young actress Immel has provided many avenues for personal connection, the opportunity to establishment of new friendships, and many new learning experiences. For her, the theatre has always meant more than just roles, costumes, and acting, “it is about the way we all come together.” Over her years of stage-acting, Immel has recognized the generosity aspect of theatre and how everyone on-cast is in constant support of one another. Despite looking like chaos, each set consists of a cast and crew that tries to help each other in every way possible. In the midst of being a part of many different casting-calls, Immel found that the most impacting roles were the ones she felt she could connect with in real life, “My favorite part was Anne Frank. I felt like I was able to share an important and true story whereas most characters I’ve played were entirely fictional. Anne felt like a purposeful role that had the potential to make an impact.”
Immel hopes to kickstart her career in professional theatre by first pursuing a degree in theatre education & performance, hopefully at her choice university, Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts. Following college, Immel wishes to further her education with a Master’s Degree, and then to settle down, and possibly teach theatre to young aspiring actors like herself. Immel hopes to not only to further the theatre world, but also her talents, in light of finding her true calling as an important piece in the largely popular theatre world.and she feels that her ability to make a difference in the community is crucial to her success as an actress and prospective teacher.
Editing, Leadership, and Teambuilding
2021-2022 EIC
Initial Story
The varsity football games and season as a whole is a highly anticipated event for many students, players, and staff. Some students have waited all four years of highschool to experience and enjoy their senior season playing on the varsity football team. Being able to play as a senior can be very rewarding to some such as Rand Butler ‘22 said, “It’s kind of bittersweet because you kind of you look forward to things to come and it’s kind of nice but also you kind of look back and kind of look back kind of at the memories.” This is a feeling that many senior football players experience while playing during their last season. Since for many players it was their last time playing highschool football, there are specific moments or entire games that they will never forget.Some games during the season mean more to certain players than others for multiple reasons. Knowing players on the opposing team can impact how a team member plays, like Noah Zimmerman ‘22, “The Coronado game was the most important one [game] because I know a lot of the guys so it was just a personal game.” The emotional connection between players, whether they are on the same team or not, can change their views on the game in either a negative or positive way.
The varsity football games and season as a whole are highly anticipated events for many students, athletes, and staff. Some students have waited all four years of high school to experience and enjoy their senior season playing on the team. Being able to play as a senior is very rewarding for some students, such as Randhal Butler ‘22, who said, “It’s kind of bittersweet because you look forward to things to come and it’s nice, but also you kind of look back and [reflect on] the memories.” Since for many players it was their last time playing football, there are specific moments or entire games that they will never forget. Some games during the season mean more to certain players than others for multiple reasons like who they are playing against or if it is their first game back from an injury. Knowing players on the opposing team can impact how a team member plays, a phenomenon frequently experienced by Noah Zimmerman ‘22, “The Coronado game was the most important one [game] because I know a lot of the guys so it was just a personal game,” Zimmerman explained. The emotional connection between players, whether they are on the same team or not, can change their views on the game and even affect their quality of play as well, as the team’s competitive spirit can drive them to beat their friends and secure bragging rights.
Leadership
Copy Editor
In my junior year (2020-2021), I was selected as a Copy Editor for my school's yearbook (Rampages). I was one of three full-time editors that year, and I was trusted to edit every single story, module element, and caption. That particular year, every single spread had a story that I had to edit. Because of this, I edited over 150 stories during the year, and edited close to 500 captions as well. This gave me plenty of editing experience, and my involvement in yearbook during my junior year encouraged me to apply for the Editor in Chief position during my senior year. in order to be able to edit all copy again, but also contribute to design editing, visual decisions, and content plans in general.
Leadership and Team Building
Editor in Chief
Gratefully, I was able to extend my duties during my senior year, when I was promoted to a co-Editor-in-Chief role. This job entailed me carrying over all of my responsibilities from the previous year as Copy Editor, as well as taking on roles of creating content for the book, designing a ladder, curriculum, rubrics, help videos, and deadline dates. Additionally, I also now have the role of editing and finalizing all spreads with my two co-EICs, meaning that I check all copy, design, and content on each page, including creating senior baby advertisements and triple-checking the names and layout of student mug pages. This consists of me constantly working both in and out of class on editing spreads, designing photo packages, and doing everything I can to make the book the best it can be. I've stayed at school until 10 PM for days in a row during deadline weeks, and I put everything that I have into yearbook while also working a job outside of school.
Specifically during the beginning of the year, I spent most of my time helping our new staff members learn the yearbook software and how to design a spread. In 2020, we had 10 yearbook staff members. At the beginning of the 2021 school year, we had only five returning staff members among 30 kids enrolled in the class. This meant that I had to assist all the kids.
I also planned an event, with my other EICs, within the first week of school to take all staff members to the first football game of the year in order to get them experience with coverage. This required us to organize camera usage, field position for each member, and we had to be available for the whole event in order to provide advice, help, and feedback for all staff.
We also planned plenty of work days after school and during finals week for staff members to come in and work on their spreads, as well as receive feedback from myself and my fellow editors.