Homecoming king. Football captain. Basketball captain. Spotlight staff writer and editor Quinn Schmidt has done it all. Over the past three years, Quinn has become an irreplaceable asset to the newspaper staff, serving as a reporter since sophomore year, the entertainment editor beginning in his junior year, and adding the role of sports editor in his senior year.
Even though he always enjoyed telling stories, Quinn did not always plan on being part of the Spotlight staff. Before joining the newspaper in sophomore year, Quinn credited his English teachers for initially getting him “fired up about writing.”
“It first started in middle school. In seventh grade I had Mrs.Sterner’s honors English, and then I had Mrs.Kleppinger in eighth grade. They were the first teachers that really made me enjoy writing,” Quinn said. “After that, Mrs.Tocci taught the Intro to Journalism class in my freshman year, and that's when I was really captivated by the whole newspaper thing.”
Out of all of his articles over the years, his favorite memory was writing the investigative piece, “Waterboys Find the Best Water Fountain at SLHS,” with 2018 graduates Townsend Colley and Ben Baca, during his junior year. Quinn remembers spending class time running around school testing every single water fountain, all for the sake of research.
The biggest lesson Quinn learned as an editor was to not procrastinate. Under the guidance of advisor Mrs. Marlo Spritzer, Quinn learned to work hard on his own articles and pages while helping others grow as writers.
“Mrs. Spritzer is a hands-on teacher, but she definitely doesn't do the work for us,” Quinn said. “Her criticisms are always constructive and really helpful. If this class was taught by any other teacher, it wouldn't be the same. I owe a lot of my success to her.”
Outside of the newspaper, Quinn is also the captain of the football and basketball team, historian of the student council, a volunteer at Camelot for Children and member of their Junior Board.
As a student athlete, Quinn has spent many memorable moments both on the field as well as in the classroom.
“I’ve always been on really talented teams, but we would always come in second. We never won a football championship until senior year,” Quinn said. “Always coming in second pushed us to really work hard and come together as a team. It taught me that you really have to work hard to succeed.”
In the fall, Quinn will attend the Newhouse Communications school at Syracuse University, where he will pursue communications. After years of hard work, getting into Syracuse University was a dream come true.
“I’m just excited to get into a school I’m proud of,” Quinn said. “My major is what the school is known for, so I know that I'll be challenged academically in a way I've never been before. I know that in four years I’ll come out with a good education.”
For rising seniors, Quinn encourages everyone to have a balance between fun and work during the last year of high school.
“Definitely do stuff in your senior year. Try everything. It feels like there's a lot of pressure in your senior year, but once you get through the college application part, it goes by really fast. Just have fun.”
