The swift click of the Canon DSLR camera as a picture is taken of the Liberty football team. Photography student and Editor-in-Chief of The Spectator PhotoJay team, senior Jordan Wilt has captured almost 500 moments over the span of four years. 

    Four consecutive years working with her camera, she found her love for the art in her freshman year after joining the yearbook Photo-J class. 

    “Taking photos and seeing them actually used on the page, seeing that my photos are good and they win awards, made me confident, I could show my creative side through photography.” Senior Jordan Wilt said.

   All journalism classes are student-led with an advisor. They are designed to push students into leadership roles within the classroom, Wilt quickly progressed through the Photo-J leadership. Starting freshman year as a photographer, she earned the spot of Editor-in-Chief for her senior year. Wilt has entered numerous competitions, the highest of which was the 2022 JEA/NSPA National High School Convention in St. Louis, where she placed in the top 10 for the 2022 Photo of the Year competition, earning Honorable Mention. Nationals is the largest scholastic journalism convention in the nation.

   “Being recognised for taking a really good photo, and the importance of the photo, was really cool to me,” Wilt said. 

   Wilt not only spent after-school hours taking photos, she also plays tennis for the school. She started after a friend asked her to try out together and found a passion for the sport.

   “Tennis was fun and I’m very competitive, but the main part of it was making friendships, I hope I made an impact on the underclassmen even though I was never on varsity,” Wilt said.

    Starting on the C-Team her freshman year, she progressed to the JV team for the rest of her high school career and learned the hard work and discipline of the sport.

  Wilt also runs her own photography business, Sunshine Snaps by Jordan.  She has the idea to start it with her mom. 

   “My mom said to create a name, and an Instagram account and see what happens,” Wilt said.

   After starting the business, she determined pricing, to book with her visit her 

Instagram. She plans to open a restaurant and sell her photos.

   After graduation, she hopes to major in business at 

Northwest Missouri State and use the degree to open a restaurant where she plans to sell her photos.

   To learn more, visit LHSnews.net or view her work on the PhotoJay website, or her socials on Instagram 

@sunshinesnapsbyjordan to see her work.