“To many people, you are the face of Jesuit, both within these walls and to the outside world.” -Mr. Tom Garrison, Principal of Jesuit Dallas, talking to the Roundup staff.
Over the past several years, the Roundup, Jesuit’s school newspaper, has grown from a small club with barely ten members to a full-blown media amp; news hub for both the school and its community. With now over sixty full-time writers and editors from all grade levels, the Roundup, as Mr. Garrison said, has become a symbolic face for the school, covering all of its events ranging from crew regattas to theatre performances to even Mr. Earsing’s recent ice bucket challenge.
With those powerful words also began the Roundup’s second annual Junior Editor workshop, where the senior members train the next generation of writers and leaders for the club. Last week after Vos Parate, twelve chosen juniors met with Dr. Degen, English Department Co-chair and moderator of the Roundup, and the senior staff to discuss their new roles as editors.
The workshop opened with speeches from Mr. Garrison and Mr. Kirby, Assistant Principal and science teacher, explaining how important these new juniors were to both the club and the school. “So many people, from parents to alumni, use the Roundup as their main source for all things Jesuit. We cannot stress enough how much we appreciate your excellent writing and service to the school,” said Mr. Kirby in his final remarks.
Following their speeches, Dominic Iannelli ‘15, Editor-in-Chief of the Roundup, ran most of the meeting and began the training process. The entire workshop was student driven and planned. “Dominic and I did most of the planning over the summer. Most of it happened in early June, and then we finished everything up in the weeks leading up to the workshop,” stated Michael Lanham ‘15, Managing Editor of the paper. “We largely use the summer workshop to simply get the junior editors thinking about the Roundup again after a long summer and begin to prepare for the first week of school. Additionally, we [the seniors] wanted them to learn some grammar basics and give them tips from our own experience as junior editors.”
Senior editors Enrique Berrios ‘15 and Jackson Slaughter ‘15 gave the first lesson on the fundamental grammar rules and style tips. Additionally, they gave all new editors the book Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. And E.B. White, hoping to aid them in their editing processes. “I think the book will be really helpful for those grammar rules that I’m not really sure about. I used to rely on what sounds right, but now I can use something concrete that gives an in-depth analysis on what to do,” explains Joshua Cobler ‘16, one of the new junior editors.
After their lesson, Jon Birondo ‘15 and Jack Durham ‘16 talked about their experiences at the summer journalism camp at UT this summer, bringing new ideas for the future of the club. Durham also comes from a long line of family writers for the Roundup. Both of his older brothers, Pierce ‘14 and Clark ’12, were crucial members of the club in their respective years.
Afterwards, Mr. Joe Nava, math teacher and creator of the Roundup website, gave a presentation on the new technological advancements of the paper, including a new layout for the site and new software to organize the editing process. Clay Phillips ’16 felt, “It was good because there’s a lot of change around this year. Now I know what to do and can go through the site without causing any problems.”
Following Mr. Nava’s presentation was a mock interview by Coach Hickman, head of the Rangers football program, and Mr. Fitzsimmons ’76, senior counselor and color commentator for the football games. Beforehand, Coach Hickman discussed the importance of remaining factually accurate and of being supportive to the school .”We wanted to teach them how to be more efficient, ask better questions, and more easily seek the information they needed,” said Mr. Fitzsimmons, who happened to also write for the Roundup during his years at Jesuit. “There’s been a lot of major changes since I was a writer. We used to have to cut and paste articles and only published around four times a year. Now we have the technology to make something truly amazing.” They presented a draft of one of their pre-game interviews they do usually every week. “I was really glad that they did that. A lot of times that the interviews that they do are really awkward. I’m really glad to have a model to model my future interviews after,” said Joey Parks ’16.
As a whole, this upcoming year for the Roundup looks extremely strong. Joshua Cobler shares how, “I feel like the Roundup has really grown to represent the shared voices of Jesuit. We’re not just individuals, but a collection of voices that share information both within and outside of the school.” Similarly, Michael Lanham believes, “It provides an inside look and shines light on the countless activities and events that occur at Jesuit everyday. And maybe most importantly, it gives people the recognition they deserve for all their hard work, from football to bowling, from art club to robotics.”
