sports writing
About: When I received this page to edit, the staffer who worked on the spread did not write a story. I talked to cross country team members and other yearbook staffers and discovered that a hard-of-hearing student joined the team and that the team had learned American Sign Language to communicate with her. After hearing this, I just knew I had to tell the team's story. When I went to interview her, I became incredibly nervous because I don't know ASL. With help from her interpreter, I completed the interview effectively. It served as an inspiring experience overall because it challenged my interviewing skills and my ability to cover sports and teamwork in a unique way.
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All Hands on Deck
runners learn ASL for DHH teammate
Faced with a new challenge, senior Lily Renda and the girls cross country team worked to break the communication obstacle between them and their hard-of-hearing teammate, freshman Hannah Foley.
“I wanted to communicate with her fluently because she seemed pretty separated from the team when she first started and I wanted her to be included as part of the cross country family,” Renda said. “I know I’d want that if I was in her position.”
Renda, along with junior Isabella Santeufemio, taught signs to other team members so Foley felt like a part of the team, and members communicated easier.
“[When I began] communicating with her [through American Sign Language], more and more of the team started asking Santeufemio and I to teach them signs and it was really cute to see everyone so excited to talk to her,” Renda said.
Touched by the team’s voluntary adjustment to how she communicates, Foley expressed her gratitude.
“A lot of the team has learned ASL just to talk to me,” Foley said. “I feel very happy because if they didn’t, I would feel very alone and now I’m included.”
After runners learned to communicate with Foley, team members felt more supported by one another.
“Sometimes when we run, we have a lot of positive comments that we tell each other,” Foley said. “We support each other and make that person feel better.”
ASL became commonplace at practices and meets because of support from team members.
“[The team] showed their support through signing and joking around just like they would treat any other teammate,” Renda said.
published in 2020 Legend Yearbook
runners learn ASL for DHH teammate
Faced with a new challenge, senior Lily Renda and the girls cross country team worked to break the communication obstacle between them and their hard-of-hearing teammate, freshman Hannah Foley.
“I wanted to communicate with her fluently because she seemed pretty separated from the team when she first started and I wanted her to be included as part of the cross country family,” Renda said. “I know I’d want that if I was in her position.”
Renda, along with junior Isabella Santeufemio, taught signs to other team members so Foley felt like a part of the team, and members communicated easier.
“[When I began] communicating with her [through American Sign Language], more and more of the team started asking Santeufemio and I to teach them signs and it was really cute to see everyone so excited to talk to her,” Renda said.
Touched by the team’s voluntary adjustment to how she communicates, Foley expressed her gratitude.
“A lot of the team has learned ASL just to talk to me,” Foley said. “I feel very happy because if they didn’t, I would feel very alone and now I’m included.”
After runners learned to communicate with Foley, team members felt more supported by one another.
“Sometimes when we run, we have a lot of positive comments that we tell each other,” Foley said. “We support each other and make that person feel better.”
ASL became commonplace at practices and meets because of support from team members.
“[The team] showed their support through signing and joking around just like they would treat any other teammate,” Renda said.
published in 2020 Legend Yearbook
About: As the first story I ever wrote for a yearbook, this story served as my introduction to the yearbook copy world. Sticking to my strengths, I wanted to cover the volleyball team because, having previously played, I knew the sport's jargon. Other editors helped me choose an angle about players having concussions and injuries. I learned what makes a good angle from narrowing down my very broad ideas to an actual story.
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Injuries Shake Up Starting Lineup
with injured liberos, team filled open positions
Both Varsity Liberos, junior Anabel Zimmerman and senior Kestae Alexander, suffered from concussions halfway through the season. This came as a challenge for the players and tested their abilities as the starting lineup adjusted.
“It was obviously a tough situation for us adjusting to defense, you have to have an answer to whatever situation you are in,” coach Paul Furukawa said. “We had to face tough teams right off the bat and we had to get players to buy into our new plan.”
Furukawa asked senior Lillian Baker to fill the libero position on the court because of her experience as libero in the past.
“It was exciting [being libero],” Baker said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates in [the] back row, and winning against a hard team was great and it got us out of a rut.”
Because of Baker’s temporary move to libero, changes occurred for other positions.
“We had [freshman] Zoe Talabong come and play outside hitter, and we beat a really tough team that way,” Furukawa said. “They overcame the challenges and took it like champs.”
Despite the changes, the players continued to win games with their two liberos off the court.
“[Having the liberos out] made us rely on each other and we realized that we had to push harder as a team to win,” Baker said.
Zimmerman returned on senior night, bringing the team back to their original lineup.
“It felt super good [being back on the court], and I was super glad I got to play with the seniors at our last home game, but I was really bummed that Kestae couldn’t play,” Zimmerman said.
With Zimmerman back in her starting libero position for the last home game of the season, the girls defeated Edgewater, 3-1.
“[When she returned for senior night, she] didn’t miss a beat, Anabel is such a good player and such a good part of the team. It was good, really good,” Furukawa said.
The team competed in the district championship in October, beating University in three close sets, but losing, 0-3, to Timber Creek in the next round of the district competition.
“They had to believe in whatever decisions we made, and they did. The players are the ones who had to come through and make it work,” Furukawa said.
published in 2019 Legend Yearbook
with injured liberos, team filled open positions
Both Varsity Liberos, junior Anabel Zimmerman and senior Kestae Alexander, suffered from concussions halfway through the season. This came as a challenge for the players and tested their abilities as the starting lineup adjusted.
“It was obviously a tough situation for us adjusting to defense, you have to have an answer to whatever situation you are in,” coach Paul Furukawa said. “We had to face tough teams right off the bat and we had to get players to buy into our new plan.”
Furukawa asked senior Lillian Baker to fill the libero position on the court because of her experience as libero in the past.
“It was exciting [being libero],” Baker said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates in [the] back row, and winning against a hard team was great and it got us out of a rut.”
Because of Baker’s temporary move to libero, changes occurred for other positions.
“We had [freshman] Zoe Talabong come and play outside hitter, and we beat a really tough team that way,” Furukawa said. “They overcame the challenges and took it like champs.”
Despite the changes, the players continued to win games with their two liberos off the court.
“[Having the liberos out] made us rely on each other and we realized that we had to push harder as a team to win,” Baker said.
Zimmerman returned on senior night, bringing the team back to their original lineup.
“It felt super good [being back on the court], and I was super glad I got to play with the seniors at our last home game, but I was really bummed that Kestae couldn’t play,” Zimmerman said.
With Zimmerman back in her starting libero position for the last home game of the season, the girls defeated Edgewater, 3-1.
“[When she returned for senior night, she] didn’t miss a beat, Anabel is such a good player and such a good part of the team. It was good, really good,” Furukawa said.
The team competed in the district championship in October, beating University in three close sets, but losing, 0-3, to Timber Creek in the next round of the district competition.
“They had to believe in whatever decisions we made, and they did. The players are the ones who had to come through and make it work,” Furukawa said.
published in 2019 Legend Yearbook