Sunday clubs offered cherubs a chance to step outside their comfort zones and provided an opportunity to deepen existing interests.
Held on Sunday afternoons, the optional activities introduced students to photography, broadcasting, podcasting, narrative writing and publication design, allowing print-focused cherubs to explore new ways of telling stories.
In Broadcast Club, led by instructor Carlin McCarthy and community and academic associates Jordan Balousek and Sami McKenney, cherubs learned the ins and outs of television journalism by working both in front of and behind the camera. They took on roles from anchors to floor directors and teleprompter operators.
As a former features editor at her high school newspaper in Miami, Stella Cardoso rarely worked in multimedia. Broadcast Club gave her the chance to step in front of the camera for the first time.
“I just wanted to get out of my comfort zone and try something new,” Cardoso said. “It definitely has impacted how I view journalism because multimedia is so important. Hopefully when I get back to my school, I’ll be doing more video and broadcasting.”
In Personal Narrative Club, instructors Mary Lou Song and Karen Springen and CAA Riq Ahmed guided students through short writing prompts, encouraging them to apply similar journalistic principles to anecdotes about their own lives.
“I love these stories because they reveal so much about the students,” Song said. “We want them to still focus on being accurate, concise and clear, but we get to let them tell their stories in their own words.”
Chicago native Owen Zeller said the club helped him open up to his fellow cherubs.
“It’s a great way for me to share parts of myself that I wouldn’t have shared with the masses just by talking to them,” he said. “It’s been a really valuable experience.”
Photography Club, led by CAA Liam Barrett, welcomed students of every experience level, from beginners learning camera basics to more advanced photographers refining their composition and use of color.
“I hope what students took away from this is that photography is a matter of practice,” Barrett said. “It is by no means an inherent skill.”
For Jiayue Zou of McLean, Virginia, the club inspired her to continue exploring photojournalism after the program.
“My favorite part about the Sunday club was interacting with other people who were also passionate about photography,” she said. “I saw so many great photographs, and I feel like I have so much to learn from the people around me because everyone’s so talented here.”
Whether students discovered a new medium or strengthened an existing interest, instructors hoped they would carry those experiences back to their own newsrooms.
“My hope is always that they walk out of here inspired to make a video for their paper if they don’t have broadcast at their school, or to join and improve it if they do,” McCarthy said. “I hope they feel that this is something they could do for themselves now and in the future.”
