In June of 1929, The Collegian launched its first publication as Kalamakū, a quarterly magazine at Saint Louis College and continues to this day.
“After becoming a quarterly review, it transitioned to a much larger paper that specifically featured original works written by Saint Louis School students under the leadership of Tom Healy’s in the early 1960s,” says current Journalism teacher and Advisor for The Collegian, Carlyle Cameron. Now, The Collegian is a quarterly newspaper with a variety of articles related to Saint Louis School and the local community.
Cameron began teaching the journalism class several years ago. Over the years, she shares that the student enrollment in the course has continued to thrive. “What I’ve seen over those years are more students enrolling in the class,” says Cameron, “allowing us to cover a variety of events and expand our readership.”
Journalism students find the class very different from their other classes. “It is not run like your typical classroom but instead like a club,” says current journalism student, Eddie Yokoyama. This way of teaching empowers the students to gain experience that might not happen through traditional ways of teaching.
For students to publish a successful article, there are steps each student must complete. “Step one is brainstorming, plus pitching your idea,” explains current journalism student Mattison “Bubba” Shea-Park. “Step two would be proposing your interview questions. Step three would be [interview] transcription. Then, step four is your draft article and it goes on from there.” Fact-checking is also very crucial. Shea-Park notes that he has learned to ensure his information is correct by “backing it up with evidence.”
Each year, the Journalism class is introduced to historical pictures of those who have written for The Collegian over the years. “It’s important for the students to recognize the historical side of this publication,” explains Cameron. “The young men who write for The Collegian are also a part of the long history of this publication which goes beyond the classroom.”
