50 Years of The Odyssey- STJ's Student Newspaper

By : Dylan Oliver, editor 

Saint James School has provided the students, teachers, and faculty members with the school newspaper since December of 1970, when the first edition was published. The Odyssey is consisted of features in academic and athletic achievements, as well as current events and happenings. Up until March of 2020, the school newspaper was given out as a printed copy; however, when Covid-19 struck, The Odyssey was transferred to a digital copy. Although this change was a minor setback, it allowed the staff to include more pictures, information, and color to the newspaper. Ever since this change, The Odyssey has continued to improve with the help of the Journalism-Newspaper staff.

The Odyssey staff member Erin Waggoner and Ms. Cavanaugh reading an issue from the 1908s.

 The school’s newspaper is put together by the help of the current staff: Danielle Greene, Abbie Hubbard, Chelsea Johnson, Dylan Oliver, Haley Taylor, Kassidy Thompson, and Erin Waggoner. Students in grades 9-12 who choose to take Journalism-Newspaper, taught by Ms. Cavanaugh, must be A-B students with good skills in writing and English. Without the staff, The Odyssey would not be as successful as it is today. 

For each quarter of the school year, the newspaper staff publishes a new issue of The Odyssey. Each member of the staff selects two topics that are relevant to the quarter to contribute to the paper. Their topics can consist of college signings, holidays, sports achievements, academics, pep rallies, and other school related activities. Once the staff member completes their pages, they AirDrop them to The Odyssey editor to review for any mistakes.  Then, the pages are sent to Ms. Cavanaugh to be put in order for the paper. 

Members of The Odyssey staff pictured with vintage issues.

After the page topics have been chosen and completed, the page numbers are determined. The first page of The Odyssey is the cover page, which includes a table of contents and a welcoming message for the beginning of the quarter. The following pages would be the latest events and happenings around the school, and these pages are grouped based off of what “category” of the newspaper they would fit best in. For instance, all of the sports related pages would be grouped together, all of the academic related pages would be grouped together, and so on.  Once the pages have been organized in order, they are looked over one more time for final touches. Finally, the newspaper is released for the students, parents, and faculty to read.

Original issues of The Odyssey from the 1970s.

Since 1970, The Odyssey has been a lead contributor in the features of sports, academics, and events occurring around the school. With the setback due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the staff overcame adversity and was able to make The Odyssey greater than it has ever been.  This misfortune not only led to new learning opportunities for the staff, but it also allowed the newspaper to become more readily available to not just students and faculty, but to the community at large. Although the newspaper has undergone changes since the beginning, The Odyssey’s mission is to promote the core beliefs of character, commitment, courage, and community through highlighting school news. 

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