Legend Yearbook

Legend YEARBOOK
Wando High School
1000 Warrior Way
Mount Pleasant, SC 29466
843.257.0106

Brynn Burke, Alexis Kramer, and Dear SCSPA Journalist of the Year Committee,
Olivia Potter
Editors in Chief I’ve always discovered a bit of myself—a former student journalist, former
professional journalist, and a Scholastic Journalist of the Year—in my past Scholastic
Phillip Caston Journalist of the Year winners. When I discovered what that was in Olivia Potter, I was
Adviser surprised.
phillip_caston@charleston.k12.sc.us
When I worked as a cops reporter in Charleston, the hardest part of my job came
with the countless homicides and accidental fatalities I had to cover. I hated every minute of
it; still, I knew I had a duty as a journalist to tell their story after they died tragically.
Olivia Potter has that sense of duty.
Wando High School, due to sheer size and bad misfortune, has had numerous
student and faculty deaths over the past five years. In fact, last year was the first year in some
time that we did not lose a student, but we did lose a faculty member. Covering their deaths
and writing about the legacy they left behind is not a task anyone on my yearbook staff has
willingly volunteered to cover—except Olivia. Her first such story she volunteered to write
was the death of a staff member’s older brother, who was killed in a motorcycle accident just
outside the school one morning. Olivia wrote a passionate and detailed feature story about his
life, complete with multiple lengthy interviews with the student’s family and friends.
Olivia brought Dermot O’Leary to life on those pages. Those who never knew him
were able to with Olivia’s work in that 2019 book. She was only a sophomore when she wrote
it.
Since that first story, Olivia has written or created the pages for more student
memorials. This task fell upon the Student Life section she led as an editor her junior year,
and once again, a job Olivia volunteered for. Each time we have to write about the tragic
death of someone special to Wando, Olivia makes sure she has firsthand involvement
somehow. She has continued to do so as co-editor in chief this year. She knows how to
coordinate with families and friends of the deceased, elicit moving and beautiful quotes from
them, and craft award-winning pieces that capture their lives (her Dermot story won first
place in state competition for feature writing).
How many 17 or 18-year-old Journalist of the Year candidates could walk into a
professional newsroom right now and tell the editors that they can report on a homicide, or
fatal car accident, or a suicide, that they have extensive experience doing so, and that they
have no problem handling all that comes with it? I can tell you from personal experience that
there are professional journalists who can’t and won’t take on such a task. And while Olivia
may not be the only JOY candidate who has this experience, I’m willing to take the wager
that she is. Her predecessor JOY winners at Wando didn’t have that experience.
This is the dark side of journalism they don’t talk about much in journalism schools,
but covering such stories are crucial and imperative to the profession. And Olivia’s experience
here defines her as a student journalist. She is willing to do any task for our yearbook. She is
willing to cover any story. She understands that duty and responsibility come with this job.
Olivia doesn’t view yearbook as a fun elective or play time with her friends.
Olivia knows we have a commitment to our school, our student body, and our history
as a yearbook staff.
But Olivia brings so much more to our staff than simple raw talent and story-telling
ability. She is a natural leader; every one of our nearly 60-member yearbook staff looks up
to her as co-editor in chief. It was no different last year when she led a smaller Student Life
section. Olivia brings compassion, mentorship, and understanding to younger staff members,
and she thrives in hands-on teaching environments when she sits down to work with a
“newbie”.
Every staff in America has faced innumerable challenges due to COVID. But
 Legend Yearbook

Legend YEARBOOK
Wando High School
1000 Warrior Way
Mount Pleasant, SC 29466
843.257.0106

Brynn Burke, Alexis Kramer, and Olivia has fought so hard to keep normalcy on our staff with yearbook production and staff
Olivia Potter relations, from continuing to schedule deadline worknights to making sure each staff member
Editors in Chief is recognized for his or her achievements no matter how small. Despite the tenuous situation
every school in SC has faced, Olivia has not missed one day this year—not one single day—
Phillip Caston of being at school in person to lead our staff. Earlier this week, she had to get tested as a
Adviser precaution for COVID. As soon as she cleared as negative, she immediately came to school
phillip_caston@charleston.k12.sc.us to work on yearbook, the only class remaining on her schedule that day. All the while, she
pushes our staff to maintain good safety measures and to make smart decisions regarding the
pandemic outside of school so that it doesn’t harm our yearbook production.
As a journalist, Olivia shines with her in-depth interviews and award-winning
writing (she is quickly climbing the ranks of the top all-time Wando yearbook award
winners, which is a monumental accomplishment given our achievement history). Last year,
she focused on learning design, territory unfamiliar to her, because she wanted to broaden
her journalistic skill set. This year, she won first place in a state photo contest; once again,
delving into territory unfamiliar to her. As an editor in chief, she has collaborated with her
co-editors to create a book completely unique compared to our previous volumes and one
that not only addresses challenges we have faced this year due to COVID, but one that also
brings solutions to coverage we lost as a result of the pandemic. For example, Olivia pushed
for us to cover the story of a Wando graduate who works as a crane operator at the SC Ports
Authority as part of a spread on job opportunities that don’t require a college degree. This
spread came as a solution to replacing some traditional coverage we could not have due to the
pandemic. This is real journalism. This is how a leader and an editor solves problems.
Olivia is on the fence about her career choices. She plans to major in journalism
in college; however, she is also contemplating the education pathway. Again, another place
where I see myself in her: she has a commitment to journalism and the craft, yet she also
loves mentoring and guiding others to better themselves. Olivia has been so dedicated to
our yearbook staff and continuing our commitment to excellence, it has likely come as a
detriment to her performance in other classes. Please see past that when considering her for
this award. She gives so much to this program and to student journalism that she is willing
to sacrifice attention to chemistry or algebra, the same way I sacrificed class time for my
commitment to the school newspaper in college.
Olivia is going to make a difference in the world as a journalist and a leader, not a
chemist. Some causes are more important than an individual’s GPA.
No student has been more committed to telling the stories of those who deserve
it the most—the ones we have lost tragically along the way. Olivia’s strength has been
immeasurable while covering these stories and mentoring her staff members. She has been
the mom some of these students need on our yearbook staff—a duty that I know Olivia will
never put aside.
It is with the utmost praise, enthusiasm, and assertiveness that I recommend Olivia
Potter as the 2021 SC Scholastic Journalist of the Year. Her courage and sense of duty to
journalism are incomparable.
Sincerely,

Phillip Caston
Yearbook adviser, Wando High School