The Purple Quill is a prestigious club that only few Elder students have been fortunate enough to be a part of over the years.  The purpose of the Quill is to entertain the students and faculty of Elder High School and also the world.

In recent years, the Quill has added new types of media to its arsenal including videos, blogs, and podcasts.  It has definitely changed from its standard newspaper layout.

Writers on staff have been working hard all semester long to put out at least four stories per month.  Some have soared over these expectations and some haven’t even come close.

To give credit to those who have put in the work,  we have developed a power ranking with the input of myself, Mr. Rogers, and the staff.

17. Jack Mazza

God Bless Jack.  Coming into the semester, Jack was thrilled to be in the class and hoped that his creativity would be put to good work, but it never panned out.

Jack’s work ethic shadowed his creativity and never let him shine.  His stories are never done on time and sometimes not even done at all.  He attempted a video which was alright, but the main part of journalism is to write and he has done very few of that this semester which earned him the bottom rung of the rankings.

16. Danny Ginn

Danny is the only junior in the class so there’s a lot of weight on his back to inspire the junior class to join The Purple Quill next year.  Sadly, he isn’t doing a good job.

With only two stories on his online profile, the work ethic hasn’t been there at all for this big man.  His ideas for stories are weak and he is always trying to find something to write about because   of his lack of  ideas.  Not a good omen for the future of the Quill.

15. Sam Kayse

Sam is a full year journalism student this year and also took the class as a junior, which would probably surprise you to learn that he is so low in the rankings.

This semester hasn’t been kind to Sam as senioritis has hit him hard.  He doesn’t finish many stories, but has some good ideas.  The only thing Kayse is good for is a mediocre collaboration with Ben Farwick on the occasional Fantastic Food Search video that Mr. Rogers criticizes as the same edit virtually every time.

14. Jeff Tuttle

Jeff is an interesting character.  His stories are all very short and his ideas aren’t much better.  This combination has become evident in his grade book.

Tuttle at least writes most of the stories he is supposed to but the effort put into them is poor.  Hopefully, he can step it up with the “two videos” that he plans on doing to finish off the year.

13.Tyler Eshman

Tyler has been a good edition to Journalism.  He stays in class and at least pretends that he is working on his work, but obviously we know he’s not.  He has attempted to learn a little about journalism, but as many people do, he caught senioritsis.  Devastating.

His stories are readable which is a good step; but they still lack interesting content.  He had the potential to become a good writer, but fell short.

12. Corbin Scholtes

Scholtes has brought his creativeness to this class and it has shown in a couple instances, but he could have been more consistent.  His ideas for stories are pretty funny, but his execution falls short of being good journalism.

One thing he needs to work on is more variety of content on his stories to push them over the edge.

11. Nick Dirr

Dirr has showed a lot of interest in this class since he first thought about joining.  He listens to advice given by Mr. Rogers and tries to implement it into his stories.

He works outside of the classroom more than most people do and that is respectable, but sometimes doesn’t finish what he started.  The effort is there but the results are spotty.

10. Nate Hill

Nate has made his presence known this semester with some really good story ideas and even a decent video attempt.  He has shown interest in the different platforms available to student writers.

With that being said, the content is lacking.  With many other writers, he is one step away from boosting his stock, but as of now he is entrenched in the middle of the pack.

9. Wyatt Albers

I feel like this would be an appropriate spot for me.  My production has been the lowest it’s ever been since I started taking this class junior year.

My ideas have been sub-par, but most of the time I turn them into a readable story.  I’ve turned it all my stories, and some have even been on time.  I still have yet to attempt a video and let me tell you.  I would not expect one in the future.

8. Eddie Cliffe

Cliffe has been a long-time journalist.  He has been in this class for two straight years so he knows the in and outs.  His ideas are pretty good but  the delivery is always sub-par.

He sometimes forgets that he has to write for the people and not for himself.  He has had trouble getting his most recent stories completed, but the content is fairly solid.

7. Ben Farwick

If you ask Ben, he should have been first on this list.  Farwick believes he is the driving force of this class and the best journalist ever, so he talks a good story trying to live up to it.

He constantly makes Fantastic Food videos with Kayse which are mediocre, but he does put  some time and effort into them.  His stories are entertaining every once in a while.  He has an advantage of being a journalism veteran.

6. Jacob Henn

Henn came to journalism for his last semester Elder High School.  Henn has worked hard this semester to get all of his stories in on time and also dabbled in video making.

He’s always working in class, but his interest in hockey and sports have made his ideas one dimensional.  Nevertheless, a solid finish to his senior year.

5. John Keehan

John has been in this class for three years and is steps ahead of everyone else in the knowledge department.  He could drop amazing stories left and right, but senioritis has hit him hard.  It has hit him so hard that he has written about it about four times in the last month.

Keehan plans to continue his journalism career in college and carry on the tradition of The Purple Quill with the rest of the world.

4. Matt Mahon

Mahon has done a solid job this semester.  His stories have good content and ideas and he has worked on videos and other types of media to maximize his journalism experience.

From last semester to this, Mahon’s writing has improved.  A great edition to the Quill.

3. Charlie Mazza

Charlie has been one of the hardest workers in journalism this year.  His content is there, stories are good and on time, and he always puts out his best effort in every story.

He always tries to get on the front page of the paper or tries to be in the showcase on the Purple Quill website.  As a journalism vet, this is what we expect.

2. Seth Sturwold

Seth has a very creative mind and brings it to this class everyday.  Mr. Rogers told me that he thinks Seth is the best pure writer in the class.  The combination of writing and his experience with computers makes him deadly.

Seth was definitely a well needed staff member to keep this train rolling smoothly.

1. Nick Mauer

As much as it pains me to say it, Mauer takes the top spot.  Mauer consistently puts out three articles a cycle which is a lot more than expected and reads and helps other writers in the class to make each of them better.

We give him a lot of crap in class, but he responds with great articles on good relevant topics.  Good work, Mauer.

Well, that does it for the power rankings for the second semester of the Quill 2018.  Hopefully the next staff can have even higher production next year.