How To Create An Award-Winning Magazine Feature Article: National Cathedral School

Chosen because National Cathedral School won a 2019 Bronze Brilliance Award for Magazine Feature Writing. InspirED talked with Scott Butterworth, Director of Communications about the win.

“This article inspired me because the writer skillfully weaves an important and topical message about the development of women leaders, and does this through the story from the perspective of internal and external stakeholders using a 360 degrees approach.”

— Brilliance Awards Judge's Comment

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“When Kathleen O'Neill Jamieson stepped down as Head of National Cathedral School after 16 years,” says National Cathedral School’s Director of Communications, Scott Butterworth, “We knew the final issue of the school magazine in her tenure would be our chance to look back over her accomplishments.”

The school wanted the issue to serve as a valediction and an appropriate celebration of her career, but wanted also to take the opportunity to place her time at NCS into context.

Scott asks, “When future NCSers look back at the Jamieson era, what would they note first?”

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“Given that barely one-third of independent school heads are female—a proportion essentially unchanged over 15 years—we realized this record was a compelling angle for our girls’-school community.”

— Scott Butterworth, Director of Communications, National Cathedral School

Start with an Angle 

Scott and Hannah Rhodes, NCS Magazine Managing Editor/Assistant Director of Communications, interviewed those who knew Kathy best and often heard an offhand comment about women who had gone directly from working for Kathy to leading independent schools.

“We identified ten such women,” says Scott. “Ten women in 16 years! Given that barely one-third of independent school heads are female—a proportion essentially unchanged over 15 years—we realized this record was a compelling angle for our girls’-school community.”

At the same time, the school wanted to discuss Kathy’s impact on students. To balance things out, they commissioned first-person remembrances from a broad swath of community members, each of whom had come to know her in different ways.

“[This article] is written with compassion, respect and insight, providing a truly memorable write-up about the legacy left by a Head of School. ”

— Brilliance Awards Judge's Comment

Execute with Adeptness

“Chance favors the prepared mind, the adage goes,” says Scott. “In our case, we had done months of thinking, and a lot of research, around how to celebrate Kathy in the magazine.” The editorial team had an unusually organized plan for this issue, and that preparation allowed them to shift direction on the main bar when they chanced onto a far superior peg for it.

Make Excellent Use of Resources

Writing, editing, and photography were handled in-house. The school felt they had the right people and photo assets on hand, so outsourcing them was never considered. They contract out their magazine design, and the 18-page package required several revisions before landing on the final. That expense is estimated at $1,000-$2,000.

The interviews were conducted in January and February 2019. Writing took up much of March. Editing and page design took place over April and into May.

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Revel in Readership’s Response

Before publication, Kathy’s record of developing educational leaders was hardly a blip on anyone’s radar. After publication, Governing Board members highlighted it at a goodbye dinner as one of her signal contributions to the school and to independent education. “We couldn’t believe it!” says Scott.

The article also kickstarted donor momentum behind a new student fellowship to honor leadership development. The first recipient was named recently.

Finally, interviews conducted with Kathy were transcribed and provided to the school archives, where they will serve as a valuable first-person resource to NCS successors about what inspired and drove the Head of NCS in the 2000s and 2010s.

“It’s wonderful to stand among schools we deeply admire as InspirED Brilliance Awards winners.”

— Scott Butterworth, Director of Communications, National Cathedral School

About the Brilliance Awards Win 

“Hats off to the judge, who intuited the story we meant to tell,” says Scott. “Female leaders are more rare in independent schools than we deserve, and Kathy Jamieson has given us a proven model for fixing that problem. That’s a good story to tell and to read. Fortunately, we didn’t muck it up in the telling.”

Scott says, “We invested many, many hours into this project, and we were pretty nervous about how it would be received. This award, along with the feedback from our community, is validation of that hard work. It’s wonderful to stand among schools we deeply admire as InspirED Brilliance Awards winners.”

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TEAM
Scott Butterworth, Director of Communications
Hannah Rhodes, NCS Magazine Managing Editor/Assistant Director of Communications

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