Headmistress Report: Hiring & Highlights

2020/12/08, 6:31 PM, Headmaster - The Council

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Dark greetings and congratulations for making it to the final stretch of 2020! While we don’t have as much to announce in the way of new as we typically do, the Shadow Academy staff is continuing to work on the projects we announced in the previous report AND looking to add a new staff member to help us launch some new projects for the coming year.

Applications Open for Magistrate

Something called “real life” has spirited away our previous Magistrate, Malevek, leaving a void to be filled with some new vic – err, prospect. In addition to acting as a backup for grading for our professors, this Magistrate will have the opportunity to take the lead on some new projects planned for 2021 and will also help develop this relatively new focus for the position.

Job Description

In the spirit of the Shadow Academy as a vast archive of knowledge, the focus of the second Magistrate will be on helping our members explore the thankfully growing world of Star Wars through various Shadow Academy-hosted activities. There will be some latitude in how this is approached, so I’m not only looking for a “true fan” with nerd-level knowledge of our fictional universe, but also someone with ideas on how to spread that hype.

Primary Focus: Star Wars Lore

Unique Responsibilities

Keep tabs on updates to Star Wars lore and help keep Professors aware of changes that might benefit or require changes to existing courses or departments
Help create and run competitions designed to introduce or explore interesting Star Wars lore through fiction, trivia, art or gaming

Application

Applications are open immediately and will close Tuesday, December 22. It’s easier than ever to apply - just use this handy-dandy Google form.

FAQ Resource Development

Thank you to everyone who responded to our FAQ resource development survey! We received a number of great responses, and your answers are helping us shape a document that will serve as a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) resource for members to consolidate the answers (or links to the answers) to such questions in one space.

If you haven’t had a chance to respond and would like to before we finalize the document, you can still find the survey here.

Student Highlights

We're going to be looking at some different ways to highlight our students (especially new ones!) in the coming year, but for now I'd just like to recognize our recent decathlon winners and one particularly fun exam response.

fabio

“Gold Star” Exams

When you venture outside the world of the Shadow Academy’s multiple choice exams, you’re given the opportunity to write some long answers to prove your mastery of the subject. Occasionally, students provide some “above and beyond” answers – sometimes those answers are just excellent for their thought or creativity, while others are just … hilarious.

The "dashing" character at right is an example of the latter from a November Wiki Basics: Character Creation exam where the student (who may identify themselves if they so choose) was asked to create an original character page for the DJB Wiki. Check out the full preview of his character page here for the full effect: Meet Fabio.