Gail O'Connor

Content Leader, Editor, Writer, Storyteller

I'm currently a senior editor at The Week Junior, a new national weekly news magazine. Prior: senior writer at TWJ; consulting editor at HealthCentral.com; editor of Wellness, a bookazine from Time Inc./Meredith; consulting editor at Scholastic Classroom Magazines (editorial) and National Partnerships (branded content); senior editor at Parents magazine; and health editor at Shape and Fitness magazines. My work has been published in The New York Times, The Week Junior, Parents, Good Housekeeping, The Muse, and other publications.

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Portfolio

WRITING

Parents
12 Weeks to a Healthier Family

THREE-PART SERIES (HEALTH INFORMATION AWARD WINNER): You and your family can get fitter, healthier, and happier in just three months.

The New York Times
09/10/2019
You Can't Go to College With Your Kid. But You Can Pretend on Facebook.

STYLES: Cure for the empty nest or parental monitoring gone awry? Jenny Tananbaum was at home in New Jersey one Saturday morning last September when she noticed a flurry of activity in the Facebook group she had joined for parents of students at American University in Washington, D.C., where her son was a freshman.

Parents
Why We Need to Lean Back

FEATURE WRITING: A thought-provoking article about why it can benefit us and our children if we're (a little) less hands on

Parents
Break Out of Your Rut

SERVICE/HUMOR: We have the antidotes to Groundhog Day Syndrome, where every day of parenting young children seems exactly the same.

Parents
What Happened to My Child?

HEALTH INVESTIGATION: Could a sudden change in behavior be caused by something as routine as strep throat? A report about a controversial, pediatric neuropsychiatric disorder that's caught the attention of the National Institute of Mental Health.

Parents
Transparenthood

FEATURE WRITING (FOLIO AWARD WINNER): A sensitively written article about parents who learned, more than they imagined possible, about loving their children for who they are.

Scholastic * Google's CS First
Ready, Set, Code!

COMPUTERS: Teach students about the language and history of code, then try free coding activities from Google's CS First.

Scholastic * Symantec
My Cool Cyber Job

TECH/CYBERSECURITY: Cybersecurity smarts, and profiles of professionals in the field

Scholastic * U.S. Department of Labor
Jobs of the Future

CAREERS: These ELA/life skills lessons and activities introduce middle schoolers to future careers and apprenticeships they can aspire to.

Parents
5th-Grade Milestones

ESSAY: "This is the year it's going to hit you, with the weight of an orthodontist's bill, that your kid has become a big kid."

Parents
Rock the School Year

SERVICE: Fresh grade-by-grade advice for school lunches, smooth organization, and more

Scholastic * Northrop Grumman
The Polar Eye Project

SCIENCE/EXPLORING AEROSPACE CAREERS: How a team of aerospace engineers built a drone to withstand Arctic elements to track the loss of sea ice and its effect on polar bears

EDITING

Parents
Crushing It

SERVICE FEATURE: The working mom's practical, spirited handbook for navigating the personal and the professional.

Parents
Fear and Parenting in America

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT (MIN AWARD WINNER): A special report about the current climate of fear and its impact on American childhoods

Parents
Gotcha

SPECIAL REPORT (MIN AWARD WINNER): An investigative feature about "parenting vigilantes" and the rise of reporting "bad parenting" to authorities

Parents
The Future of Play

SPECIAL REPORT: A few of the exciting changes in technological and outdoor play that could be in your family's near future.