Lincoln Public Schools understands the importance of quality journalism to help inform our community and shine a light on the people, programs and events that make our school district unique.
Student News Desk is our ongoing effort to promote excellence in journalism and public education by highlighting student journalists from our high school publications classes. This month’s spotlight is on East senior Kallee, who is editor-in-chief of the school yearbook. Congratulations, Kallee!
East High School senior Kallee uses her journalism talents to find winning spots in her academic strike zone.
Kallee showcases her leadership skills as the editor-in-chief of the school yearbook. She guides a full classroom of Spartans who compile more than 200 pages of campus memories. She helps them find and develop story ideas, create award-winning layout designs, take sharp photos and write compelling copy.
Kallee said she is enjoying holding a role similar to a softball manager. She gained experience as one of the publication’s editors as a junior, and she relies on that knowledge in the top position this year. She oversees a successful lineup of staff members who want to produce many webgems on their assigned pages.
“I feel like when you’re editor-in-chief, you kind of get a lot of say, but you also get to work with a lot of good people,” Kallee said. “This year, we have a group of editors. I’m in charge of helping them and guiding them, so after being an editor for the first time last year, I feel like I can help other people step into those roles too. That’s what the main focus has been on so far.”
East teacher Elle Conger said she has been impressed with Kallee’s encouraging leadership style. Conger, who advises the yearbook class, has watched her build the confidence of younger teammates by allowing them to offer ideas and suggestions. This gives them a feeling of ownership in the product, which has created a positive newsroom environment.
“Kallee has a fabulous ability to let her voice be heard without dominating the ideas of her peers,” Conger said. “As an editor-in-chief, it can be easy to bulldoze over younger staff members, but Kallee leads by example by demonstrating ambition without being aggressive.”
The National Honor Society student used her intelligent storytelling methods for the first time as a sophomore. She gained the trust of both Conger and older classmates with her dedicated approach to her job. She completed multiple yearbook assignments in a professional manner, which showed that she was ready for increased responsibilities.
“I had to learn how to interview people and build connections and find people throughout our school for stories, which was really interesting for me,” Kallee said. “It’s definitely something you have to learn how to do, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a lot of fun, because you get to find interesting stories throughout the school that nobody knows about.”
Nebraska judges honored Kallee’s artistic eye this past spring at the 2026 State Journalism Contest. She earned seventh place in the Class A yearbook layout division for an entry entitled “This is Spartan Territory.” The two-page spread focused on East’s cheerleading squad. It included action pictures of students at games and photos of sisters who were teammates.
Kallee said her state journalism experience was memorable for more than just a medal. It also gave the Spartans a chance to network with fellow yearbook students from across Nebraska.
“Being there is definitely a lot of fun, because there are so many people there, and you get to meet people who are also doing the same things as you at different schools,” Kallee said. “We don’t really see those people very often, so it was fun to talk with them.”
Kallee and her fellow Spartans also displayed their forward-thinking mindset at the convention. They spent several hours flipping through medal-winning yearbooks to learn different design styles and techniques that they could put their own creative spin on at East. They also discussed feedback that they received from judges about the school’s 2025-26 state entries.
“We used that day as a lot of building and reflecting for our own yearbook,” Kallee said. “It’s really cool seeing other people’s work and kind of incorporating parts of their ideas into ours.”
Kallee said those brainstorming sessions have already paid off this fall. The Spartans generated the theme of “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know,” which highlights overlooked or undiscovered stories across all four grades.
Many yearbook staffers are involved in multiple school activities, which gives them access to a wide range of sources and story possibilities. Kallee, who was a member of this fall’s state-qualifying softball team, said she has been thrilled with the opportunities that have come up.
“Everyone is connected in our class in some way, and that helps us find stories and find different people that maybe I didn’t know about or somebody else didn’t know about,” Kallee said. “It’s been really good.”
Conger said those positive management talents are why Kallee has become a key player in East’s journalism dugout.
“It’s been wonderful to see her grow, not only as a student journalist, but as a leader in the class,” Conger said.
Discover how to get involved in English Language Arts activities like yearbook at LPS buildings.
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