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This picture (of me taking pictures) was snapped at a rainy Sept. 23 home football game. Our school won 70-0, by the way :)

Being an unsuspecting model for a staff member's impromptu photography practice was not a duty I predicted having as editor-in-chief.

My school's online newspaper

OUr print publication

Portfolio

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 Writing 

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 Design 

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 photojournalism 

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 multimedia 

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 marketing 

newsgathering

resume

EDUCATION

Edwardsville High School (Edwardsville, Illinois)

High School Diploma

August 2019 - May 2023

4.375 GPA (weighted) 

 

COURSE EXPERIENCE RELATED TO FIELDS OF STUDY

Advanced Journalistic Composition

May 2021 - present

  • Duties: Contributing to the school's online newspaper, producing a quarterly news magazine, leading production as editor-in-chief, interviewing peers and community members, producing approximately 600-word articles on a weekly deadline, using professional graphic design programs to create newspaper layouts.

AP Environmental Science

May 2021 - August 2022

  • Duties: writing extensively about environmental issues, creating models of theoretical cities to demonstrate urban environmental solutions, understanding links between the environment and human activity.

 

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE 

Benjamin Stephenson House (Volunteer)

November 2019 - present

  • Duties: assisting museum docents with tasks, playing violin for guests, photographing events for marketing purposes.

Liberty Middle School (Volunteer Scholastic Bowl Coach)

November 2019 - present

  • Duties: leading practices and matches, recording official scores, helping teammates transition into high school.

 

EXTRA-CURRICULAR EXPERIENCE 

Edwardsville High School Yearbook

Designer, Photographer, Editor-in-chief

May 2019 - present

  • Duties: Establishing the theme and design of books, attending and photographing school events, interviewing students, writing short features, managing a staff of approximately 20 people, leading the creation of a 300+ page yearbook.

Tiger Times Online & The Claw

Editor-in-chief

May 2021 - present

  • Duties: Writing articles on a weekly basis, interviewing students and school staff, reporting on national news, designing layouts for a news magazine, submitting work to journalism competitions and competing in timed events, leading news production as editor-in-chief with a staff of approximately 10 people.

Science Olympiad

Varsity team member

August 2022 - present

  • Duties: Taking extensive notes, organizing information, technical writing, researching topics related to forestry and earth’s freshwater.

Edwardsville High School Orchestra

Honors symphonic violinist

May 2019 - present​

  • Duties: Performing in concert and solo environments, music arranging and composition.

Honors Societies

Society member

August 2022 - present

  • Organizations: National Honors Society, National English Honors Society, Spanish Honors Society, TRI-M Music Honors Society (member since 2019).

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SKILLS

  • Extensive experience with journalistic and creative writing

  • Advanced proficiency with creating digital art, infographics

  • Advanced proficiency with Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom

  • Extensive experience with conducting journalistic interviews and communicating with peers

  • Experience with social media management and marketing

  • Experience with ESRI ArcMap software and Google Earth Pro

  • Experience with DSLR cameras

  • Spanish language familiarity

journalism awards

IJEA​

  • Journalist of the Year (2023)

Newspaper and Digital News

  • First place advertisement (2022)

  • Second place headline (2022)

  • Third place illustration (2022)

  • Third place news story (2022)

  • Honorable mention sports commentary (2022)

  • Honorable mention staff editorial (2022)

  • Third place best hybrid publication (2022)

  • Third place best overall publication (2022

Yearbook*

  • Second place in overall excellence (2022) (about this achievement and our program)

  • Third place copy writing (2022)

  • Second place coverage of the school year (2022)

  • Second place divider pages (2022)

  • Third place graphics (2022)

  • Honorable mention layout + design (2022)

  • Third place sports coverage (2022)

  • Second place theme development (2022)

  • Honorable mention in overall excellence (2021)

  • First place graphics (2021)

  • Third place theme development (2021)

  • Second place coverage of the year (2021)

*This is not a complete list of the IJEA awards EHS Yearbook has won in my time as one of its editors. I've opted to only list awards that I feel I had a direct and major impact on (for example, listing our first place in graphics from my time as design editor, while not listing photography awards from years where I was not directly involved with photography), out of respect for the other talented staff members who've contributed to our wonderful program.

IHSA

  • Third in state for editorial writing (2022)

  • Third in state for newspaper design (2022)

  • State runner-up journalism team (2022)

SISPA

Newspaper

  • First place best front page layout (2023)

  • First place best sports feature (2023)

  • Second place best website sports (2023)

  • Second place best advertising design (2023)

  • Second place best editorial (2023)

  • Third place best homepage design (2023)

  • Third place best original art (2023)

  • Third place best editorial cartoon (2023)

  • Blue Banner website (2022)

  • Blue Banner print publication (2022)

  • First place advertising design (2022)

  • Second place editorial cartoon (2022)

Yearbook*

  • First place feature (2023)

  • Third place theme development (2023)

  • Third place yearbook sports copy (2023)

  • Golden Dozen yearbook (2022)

  • First place student life spread (2022)

  • Second place academic spread (2020)

*Like with the IJEA awards, I've chosen to include only the SISPA awards that I had a major role in achieving. This is not an exhaustive list of the awards EHS Yearbook has won in my time as one of its editors.

About me

Hello! My name is Caspar Dowdy. I've been involved in Edwardsville's publications department since my first yearbook meeting as a freshman. As a sophomore, amid the inconsistencies of hybrid and remote learning, I took on the role of design editor for yearbook and took Journalism 1 the first year I was allowed to enroll. My junior year, I was finally able to take Advanced Journalistic Composition, the class that produces my school's newspaper. I was given the role of opinion and design editor for our print and online publication, though I was able to assist in several editor-in-chief duties, while also stepping into my place as editor-in-chief of the yearbook. Now, as a senior, I'm honored to be editor-in-chief of our print and online newspaper as well as our yearbook.

 

I am proudly recognized as "the journalism kid" among my peers in my (sometimes rare) ventures outside the publications classroom. This program has shaped the person I am, both in and outside of my journalism work. On days when chronic illness leaves me tired and overwhelmed, this program keeps me engaged in school and excited about the future. It's given me the opportunity to work with people and mediums that I'd never thought possible and cover topics I had never even thought about. But more than that, it's been foundational in giving a self-admittedly awkward autistic kid a new way to conceptualize identity, confidence and purpose.

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Thank you for looking at my JOY portfolio. I'm incredibly lucky to represent Edwardsville High School in this competition, and on a larger scale, play a part in drawing attention to the underappreciated journalism programs of Southern Illinois.

© 2023 by Caspar Dowdy. Created with Wix.com

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