CC Spin Editor of the Year
Clara Stevenson of Ygnacio Valley High School takes title
Clara Stevenson, CCSin Editor of the Year from Ygnacio Valley
Clara Stevenson only got involved with her yearbook and journalism in her senior year. But she tackled both with commitment and energy, packing a lot in one year. And she carried out her CC Spin Student Editor responsibilities with tremendous creativity and professionalism, which has earned her CC Spin Editor of the Year.
Ygnacio Valley contributes its stories to CC Spin through its yearbook class. This involves the student editor not only identifying potential stories for the Contra Costa County-wide student newspaper, but also helping her classmates convert yearbook copy and photographs into newspaper stories and images. Stevenson carried out these tasks with flair and in a timely fashion.
Stevenson embraced the task of learning how to report, write and edit for a newspaper.
“I chose to be the editor for CC Spin this year because I wanted to challenge myself,” she said. “It scared me at first, and I was nervous about being able to balance it with my school work. But in the end, I was happy I did it.”
Stevenson wrote stories for each edition of CC Spin, including the special 2020 Census section in the March edition, a feature about a census taker.
“While being an editor, I learned a lot about writing and how to further develop a story,” the senior said. “I was able to try a different writing style that I wasn’t familiar with, and I think this experience will help me with my writing in the future.”
Stevenson was also passionate about her yearbook, which carried the theme of “We Are the Light.”
“My most memorable moment … is actually the day we submitted it,” she said. “The editors were all on a Zoom call for about five hours overlooking every single page and putting all the finishing touches on it. Once we finished, we were able to send off the yearbook to be printed and it was a really emotional moment for all of us to see all our hard work come to life.”
Stevenson plans to attend Diablo Valley College next year “to explore different career paths and figure out what I want to do in the future.”
The CC Spin faculty adviser for Ygnacio Valley is Joseph Alvarico.
