time, but it
would be great
if we could
distribute it
before Super
Tuesday.”
I quickly
reviewed the
calendar in my
head: that would
only give us two
or three weeks
to bring the staff
on board, plan,
write, design,
layout, publish
and distribute.
And that did not
even include
all the other
deadlines that
the staff was currently working to
meet. Knowing that the journalism
room is always a busy place—as
the incubator of our newspaper,
news website, yearbook and
literary magazine—she was almost
apologetic with her suggestion and
knew that we would need to do a
lot of work in a very short amount
of time.
they will own the publication. For
a student publication to succeed,
ownership is an essential ingredient,
if not the most important one.
Our news website,
hockadayfourcast.org, started in
a similar manner approximately
seven years ago. I always knew
building a website was an
important and necessary step to
“I think that is a great idea,” I told her.
I did not know how we would make
it happen, but somehow I knew we
would make it happen. I am certain
she was surprised at how little work
it took to convince me.
This energy is precisely what keeps
me going: enthusiastic students who
think creatively and want to go the
extra mile – enthusiastic students
who crave and enjoy a challenge.
In my many years of teaching, I have
learned that the more freedom you
give a journalism student, in terms
of content and creativity, the more
ANA ROSENTHAL
Ana Rosenthal is the mass communications
department chair of The Hockaday School
in Dallas, Texas. She advises the school’s
newspaper The Fourcast, the news website
hockadayfourcast.org, the yearbook
Cornerstones, and the literary magazine
Vibrato. All four publications have been
honored with Crown Awards and/or
Pacemaker Awards. She is a 2013 DJNF
Special Recognition Adviser. Current she
serves as the second vice president for the
Columbia Scholastic Advisers Association.
take in order to mirror industry and
mass communications standards.
However, I also knew that starting
a website without student interest
would be an exercise in futility. To
my delight, a student came into
my office and suggested starting
one. I respected her initiative and
immediately agreed.
Building our website has been a
long process, one riddled with
challenges and honest mistakes.
The first website was basic and
plain, designed using a MacBook
and consisting simply of stories
and photographs. We did not know
about WordPress at the time, so
updating the website was a huge
job where we had to manipulate
every single text box and image
in order to make room for new
ones. We spent hours updating
the website every month. Yes,
we updated the website once a
month—and we felt so proud of it.
Luckily, my students got savvier.
They learned how to use WordPress