Elements of Journalism. It’s been “in & out” at Eleanor Roosevelt High School since the school’s opening in 2006, largely because of its taboo nature and uneasy reputation amongst both staff and students. Its purposes are reasonable and appropriate: to create and publish the school newspaper as well as teach basic elements of the craft to those whose interests in it goes beyond their high school careers and evoke a sense of school involvement.  But the feeling of uncertainty lingered.  A school newspaper? Who would want to read it? Will students read it? How much popularity will it gain and what effect will it have on the school?

The class had a history of low class enrollment over the years while the school newspaper, previously titled The Mustang Messenger, had a lack of readership, and had been passed down from one teacher to another. The questions of if Elements of Journalism will return or return at all were left unanswered when the last teacher departed from the school, leaving the task of running a seemingly impossible class and newspaper open and empty. What resulted was a two-year hiatus of the class, with only a mention of it as an option for electives in the class registration forms students usually fill as the year nears its end. It became a remnant of the past that served only as a whisper of what could have been.

During this 2016-2017 school year, Journalism rises from the dead after much debate from school officials on whether or not it should be brought back. Mrs. Merki-Castro, a Language Arts teacher on campus, has accepted the honor of signing on to teach. She’s very much qualified for the job, given that she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications at the California State University of San Bernardino, where she was a vital part of the college newspaper, The Coyote Chronicle, serving as editor-in-chief.

One can see the passion, devotion, and dedication glowing in her eyes. And when it comes to her nerdy and casual personality, she’s a blast!

“I am so excited to finally be able to teach this class, a class that I’ve always wanted to teach since I’ve been a teacher here at Roosevelt,” Castro says to her group of the few 15 determined, dedicated, and delighted students taking her class. “We’ve got big plans in store.” The class promptly retitled the newspaper as The Roosevelt Review, representing a much needed reboot for the once forgotten entity with a rekindle purpose to getting out the scoop and bringing people up to date on what’s going on in campus, in the community, and in the world.

A fresh new start allows for changes and experimentation, as the paper will now be online due to the constraints defined by the price of printing. Being online allows for the paper to reach a large majority of the student body at Eleanor Roosevelt High, given that the current generation is a lot more tech-savvy, having access to information with just a few swipes and taps. The digital and technological era is now, hence being part of it is a necessity for future growth.

Along with this expansion to the Web comes the extension of the craft of Journalism to others outside of the class. Mrs. Castro is also the advisor for the Journalism Club that will give other students not in the class an opportunity to be part of the experience. It’s having those different voices that will allow this rendition of the paper to thrive.

While the future seems bright and prosperous for the Roosevelt Review, there’s no denying that that bumpy roads and daunting challenges have been experienced, and there is much to do for this small class and their paper.

“We’re going to tackle at least 30 stories for our first issue, and that’s a lot for getting started, but we can do it” Castro remarks as the class jot down their stories to go out and write.

Recently, promotion of the club and the paper is slow due to the lack of interest and investment from the student body, given that writing is not an activity many want to do on their own time. The efforts from putting up flyers, posters, advertising on social media, spreading about the paper and club through word of mouth yield mixed results due to the busy nature of the school year and the preoccupation of students, especially upperclassmen, on preparing for upcoming tests, college apps, and more.

Fundraising to pay for expenses such as printing seems to be as daunting a task because many other clubs seek to do the same, but thanks to the brainstorming process of ideas to raise money coming from highly active students in the class and the variety of ways to fundraise in today’s world, there may be results.

But with hard work, The Roosevelt Review and Journalism will surely make their marks at Eleanor Roosevelt High School with a firm leadership in Mrs. Castro and her Journalism students. Here goes nothing, Mustangs.