Oxendine Publishing Mission Statement
The mission of Oxendine Publishing is to teach
college and high school students to be more effective and ethical leaders of the future.
We believe that it is
vital to help students understand why it is important to be fair,
conscientious, and moral leaders in their future careers in business,
politics, education, and government.
Through magazines, related books, newsletters, seminars,
and online services, Oxendine Publishing strives to be an "information source"
with our staffers viewed as experts in the area of leadership development.
Brief Company History
For nearly 21 years, Oxendine Publishing, Inc. has produced
magazines exclusively for college and high school students. In two of the past five years,
Oxendine Publishing was named one of Florida's 100 fastest-growing private companies. The
Gainesville-based company launched Student Leader in fall 1993 to provide
leadership and management tips to the top campus leaders at schools nationwide. Student
Leader is now read at nearly 1,400 colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, and
Puerto Rico.
In Florida, Oxendine publishes the college magazine Florida Leader and a version of Florida
Leader for high school students. Oxendine Publishing also is the founding sponsor of
the annual Florida College Student of the Year
Award, a prestigious scholarship program that recognizes Florida's top campus
achievers.
Meet Our Team
For those of you who aren't familiar with our company, here's a little
info about our staff, so you'll have
an idea of who you're talking to when we interview you or when you call us with a terrific
idea.
W.H. "Butch" Oxendine, Jr.
Publisher & editor in chief
Butch was SGA vice president and
editor-in-chief of the college newspaper (serving at the same time) at Lake
City Community College, then served as SG press secretary and editor of
The Campus Leader at the University of Florida.
Named in 1992 as one of
the nation's top 100 entrepreneurs under age 30 by the Association for
Collegiate Entrepreneurs, Butch, 41, has been publishing student-oriented
magazines, books, and web sites for more than 21 years. He studied
journalism at the University of Florida, but left school in 1984 to work
full-time on his first magazine, Florida Leader.
Since then he has
launched four other publications, including the national magazine Student
Leader. He travels frequently to speak and present leadership seminars,
and has written three books on student-leadership issues, including So
You Want to Be President...How to Get Elected on Your Campus.
Butch is married to
Kathy, and they have a 8-year-old daughter, Leah, a five-year-old son, Will,
and have twin one-year-old boys, Adam and Andrew. Butch enjoys being a
Trekker, wrestling with the young-'uns, and cheering for the Florida Gators.
butch@studentleader.com
Vincent
Alex Brown
Contributing Editor
ASGA Development Director
Vincent Alex Brown was involved in the original start-up of Oxendine
Publishing in the mid-'80s and served as art director and editor overseeing
staff, freelancers, editorial, and production. He returned in 2001 and
directed all publications and Web sites along with managing the editorial,
public relations, and intern staffs. He now serves as project manager for
ASGA.
Brown received a BS in
Advertising from the University of Florida in 1986. After serving as
regional editor for four weeklies of a Central Florida newspaper group, he
worked for retail, consulting, software, and e-commerce firms in the areas
of desktop publishing (DTP), multimedia production, marketing, advertising,
technical writing and support, data analysis, database management, quality
assurance, Web application development and interface design, Web design and
development, and more. He also taught an entrepreneurial class instructing
adults on computer use and business development. He most recently taught a
journalism class for home-schooled high school students, publishing their
work on the Web. After years of doing DTP work, he ventured into Web design
and development in 1995. His latest interest is in digital video, starting
in 2001.
He provides DTP, Web, and
digital video services to clients on the side, and for his church and
ministry opportunities. Before returning to Oxendine Publishing, he designed
its current logo.
Vince and his wife, Dawn,
of over 14 years have three children: Nina, Emily, and William. Throughout
the North Central Florida area and beyond, they enjoy outdoor recreation and
sports, swimming, model rocketry and trains, horses, canoeing, camping,
reading, music, and games.
vince@studentleader.com
Anna Campitelli
Editor, Student Leader
Anna Campitelli, 24, graduated from the University of Florida in 2003 with a
BA in English and a BS in zoology, making her the office expert on
all matters of zoological importance. An avid swimmer and synchronized
swimmer, Anna may feel more at home in the pool than behind a desk, but
she's taken to her role as Student Leader editor like a fish to
water. When she's not busy seeing an issue through to completion or
supervising the Oxendine intern staff, you can probably find her at UF
helping to coach the Gator synchro swimming team or at home daydreaming
about where she wants to attend grad school.
Anna loves to travel,
cherishing her passport stamps from Finland, Israel, and Italy. She also
enjoys drawing, watching movies, reading novels (especially thrillers, good
sci-fi, and Harry Potter), attempting to cook, catching up with
friends, lounging around with her boyfriend and Hobbes the Cat, and cheering
on the Dolphins, Marlins, and Gators. Anna wishes she was as cool as Art
Director Jeff, whose cousin is a real football player (and not just a
kicker).
anna.campitelli@studentleader.com
Chelsea Greenwood
Interim Editor, Florida Leader
Chelsea, 21, is a magazine journalism senior at the University of Florida
and has been with Oxendine Publishing since summer 2003. She is a member of
the Society of Professional Journalists, the Florida Magazine Student
Association, and the Golden Key International Honor Society. Chelsea has
written for INsite, FYI Weekly, The Gainesville Sun,
and The Independent Florida Alligator. She’s also a stringer for
Seventeen magazine.
In her free time, Chelsea
loves listening to jazz, watching cartoons, waxing political with friends,
and reading books by beatniks. After graduating in May 2005, she hopes to
join the Peace Corps or write for a magazine in New York City. Her dream job
is to work for National Geographic and write about foreign cultures
as she explores them.
chelsea.greenwood@studentleader.com
Lindsay Downey
Associate Editor
While
preparing to graduate with a degree in journalism from the
Lindsay spent the last 10
years in sunny
lindsay.downey@studentleader.com
Jeff Riemersma
Art Director
Star
Trek guru Jeff Riemersma is responsible for the layout and design of
Oxendine's magazines, as well as company brochures and conference-related
materials. A graduate of Grand Valley State University in Allendale,
Michigan, Jeff received his BFA in Art and Design and has been involved with
Oxendine Publishing for over 16 years.
What began as a job
dedicated solely to the design and production of magazines has evolved to
include such responsibilities as web design, overseeing all computer and
networking needs, and acting as liaison for
Oxendine's ISP and dedicated hosting services.
Jeff enjoys collecting
Star Trek memorabilia, action figures, Japanese diecast robots, and watching
waaaay too much anime. As a longsuffering Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tampa Bay
Lightning fan, he eases the pain of the Bucs' current woes and Lightning's
non-season by watching his Superbowl XXXVII and
2003-04 Stanley Cup DVDs over, and over, and over again.
jeff.riemersma@studentleader.com
Valeria Grodewald
Business Manager
Since signing on as Oxendine Publishing's Office Manager in
1997, Val has become an integral part of Oxendine's and ASGA's daily routine
and now serves as Business Manager. Val studied at Santa Fe Community
College before holding several management positions, and she says she loves
working at a "small company with a family atmosphere." When she isn't
collecting and paying bills and entering data in QuickBooks, Val enjoys
photography, reading, and hanging out with her three kids, Matthew,
Nicholas, and Hailee.
val.grodewald@studentleader.com
Amy Rankin
Distribution Manager
Amy Rankin, 27, was born in Flushing, New York, on October
10, 1976. She moved to Starke, Florida, when she was six and has lived there
ever since, minus a two-year stint in Waycross, Georgia, in her late teens.
Amy came on board at Oxendine in January 2002 as an office assistant.
Currently, she serves as ASGA's director of member relations.
Amy loves animals, music, reading, and the beach. During the summer,
she hits the beach at least once a week and would love to own a beach house
someday. She loves gardening and anything to do with nature and frequents
the many nature parks in Gainesville. Amy spends a great deal of time with
her family and adores her niece, Ivy, and nephew, Ethan.
amy@studentleader.com
Jacki Robinson
Data Entry
Specialist
Jacki joined our staff
in January, 2004 with a myriad of business skills. Her
past positions include Bank Loan Officer, Legal Secretary, and Office
Manager.
She returns to the work
force after a 12-year stint as SAHM (stay at home mom), during which she
kept active by organizing the annual Marion County Life Chain, volunteering
at the children’s charter school in Micanopy, as well as running her own
computerized machine embroidery business.
Jacki and her husband,
Michael, have two children, Glen (11) and Katherine (9). They live on a
“postage stamp” farm in the middle of horse country in NW Marion County. In
addition to keeping a family milk cow and calf, they have also raised goats,
rabbits, guineas, and chickens. Of course, there are the mandatory dogs and
cats, as well. In addition to her business skills,
Jacki loves to sew. She has added a new dimension to our office with
her embroidery quilt displays.
jacki.robinson@studentleader.com
Shauna Cardenas
Data Entry
Specialist
Shauna was born in Fremont, California, on January 11, 1983. She lived in
Fairfield, California, until September 2002, when she and her family packed
their cars and moved to Orlando, Florida—a long, but beautiful, drive. In
Orlando, she worked as an assistant manager with PETCO. She started working
for Oxendine Publishing full time in May 2004 and worked at Gainesville's
PETCO as a part-time sales associate.
Shauna loves humor! She doesn't watch much TV, but when
she does, it's Comedy Central. She loves animals and because of PETCO, she's
accumulated a zoo. She loves Boogers—her black cat. Shauna plays lots of
sports, especially basketball. She also listens to all kinds of music, and
she enjoys boating, fishing, the beach, nature, camping, movies, comedy
clubs—just about everything!
shauna.cardenas@studentleader.com
Jessica Scoates
File Clerk
Jessica Scoates, 17, was born in Gainesville,
Florida, on August 9, 1987. Growing up, she and her family moved around town
but remained in the city's small confines. Jessica and her father,
stepmother, stepbrother, brother, sister, cat, and dog share their cozy—and
slightly cramped—home
together, just waiting for the next person to go to college in hopes of more
space becoming available.
Working as an
administrative assistant at Oxendine Publishing is Jessica's first job. She
loves working with the small group of people who have quickly become her
friends. The small office makes it possible to get to know everyone but
still leaves enough room to fit numerous filing cabinets. Jessica almost
thinks of those filing cabinets as a new home (due to the fact that she
spends more time opening their metal doors than anything else), but she
hasn't complained a bit.
Like any teenager,
Jessica enjoys spending time just hanging out with friends, watching the
occasional TV show, and doing nothing but lounging around the house.
Although she enjoys having fun, she often finds herself listening to various
types of music while reading the newest book for her English class.
Upon graduating from high
school in 2005, Jessica wishes to enroll in the University of Florida's
accelerated masters program for elementary education. After earning her
degree, she has high hopes of becoming an elementary school teacher.
jessica.scoates@studentleader.com
Maria Cancino
Editorial Assistant
Maria Cancino, 20, was born
in Guatemala, raised in Chile, and moved to Miami, Florida, in 1997. She
graduated from Miami Sunset Senior High School and is currently a journalism
sophomore at the
University of
Florida.
She was a freelancer for Univision Online in 2000 and has won awards
for poetry and essays in Spanish, her native language. Maria is a member of
the Florida Magazine Student Association and a volunteer with the Boggy
Creek Gang, an organization that helps children coping with chronic
illnesses and gives their families a weekend (or summer) of fun.
To Maria, history is her
passion, movies her distraction, and reading her pleasure. She dreams of
writing articles for Time magazine, meeting Isabel Allende, and
someday creating her own magazine.
maria.cancino@studentleader.com
Leslie Hunt
Editorial Assistant
Leslie Hunt, 21, is an English and
psychology senior at the University of Florida. She's written for The
Independent Florida Alligator and is publishing her first short story in an
upcoming anthology called Short Attention Span Mysteries. When she's not
writing fiction or articles, she's hanging out with friends and her
boyfriend, downloading rock songs, reading the latest thriller novel, or
visiting her parents on their 100-acre farm in Lake City, Florida.
leslie.hunt@studentleader.com
Megan Pappas
Editorial Assistant
Megan Pappas, 23, is a senior who's graduating this summer
with a major in English and a minor in classics.
After transferring to four different colleges, she
moved to Gainesville three years ago and now
bleeds orange and blue. Originally from Sarasota, Megan feels right at
home in the small apartment she shares with her black lab, Jack.
Located near The Swamp restaurant, her friends
have dubbed the apartment "The Hub" because it's
the meeting place before most social functions.
Megan's passions include
travel, horseback riding, almost every activity
involving the ocean, and reading. She has ridden horses
competitively since she was nine, and in her last job, she taught
riding lessons at Dragon's Lair Farm off Newberry.
She keeps her own horse, Aldebaran (Olly for
short), at a farm off Williston Road. After
graduation, she hopes to find a job working at a newspaper or magazine
that still allows her time to "horse around" and read novels on the
beach.
megan.pappas@studentleader.com
Jenna Tighe
Editorial Assistant
The University of Florida
now feels like home to Jenna Tighe, but she still misses the hot days and
sunny beaches of South Florida. Jenna, 20, hopes to major in journalism with
a strong emphasis in magazines. She’s currently a sophomore and in her
second semester interning at Oxendine Publishing.
With firm family ties in
South Florida, Jenna plans to graduate in 2007 and move back there to begin
a career in the magazine business and start a happy life. An alumnus of
McArthur High School’s class of 2003, she volunteers her time toward
community service whenever possible.
In high school, Jenna
wrote as a correspondent for the
Ft.
Lauderdale
Sun Sentinel’s Next Generation page and was editor in chief of
McArthur High’s student newspaper for two years. She’s excited to be getting
back to writing this semester.
jenna.tighe@studentleader.com.
To reach a member of the
Oxendine Publishing team,
call (352) 373-6907
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