Honoring our seniors: Shawna Muckle
Shawna served for three years on the staff of Jesuit Chronicle. She served as a writer, page editor, and Chief Editor during her time on the newspaper. She had multiple articles honored as Best of SNO and wrote about topics ranging from race relations to politics. She will attend Washington and Lee University in the fall where she will be majoring in journalism. Her favorite memory was making a podcast about the Portland Boat Show.
- “Shawna is an inspiring writer and a great person to work with!” -Rosa Madden
- “Shawna was never afraid to put her voice and thoughts out into the community and to the world. She is a
fearless journalist and dedicated to her craft. She still manages to be humble and kind despite her incredible
journalistic skills and I can’t wait to see where she goes!” -Jayla Lowery - “Shawna is such an amazing journalist and very smart. She always helps anyone who is struggling and is
there for you.” -Annie Landgraf - “Shawna is definitely the best writer I met in high school. She consistently made enlightening, valuable
articles about serious issues both in the Jesuit community and the world and the entire Journalism class
could always rely on her for good input on articles. She could consistently make the Chronicle a source of
discussion in the broader Jesuit community.” -James Martini - “Focused, overachieving, super smart. First time I met Shawna, I thought, that’s the journalist I want to
embody.” -Steele Clevenger - “The high level work you put into this class and your overall level of writing truly stood out in every
newspaper published this year.” -Michael Lang - “Shawna always inspired me to be a better writer. Such a chill girl and will miss seeing her sprint past me in
valley everyday” -Gwynne Olson - “Shawna is such an amazing writer and always has the best ideas. My favorite memory with her is Fall
Press Day and ending up in the wrong sessions!” -Virginia Larner
Honoring our seniors: Virginia Larner
Virginia served three years on the Jesuit Chronicle as a writer, page editor, and ultimately a chief editor for the paper during her senior year. A talented writer who focused on school culture and health related topics, despite the website only being a member of SNO since December, her writing was featured twice on Best of SNO. She will attend Pitzer College in the fall. Her favorite memory of journalism was working on the Christmas editions.
- “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Virginia when she’s not smiling or laughing. She is sweet, while still getting things done.” -Steele Clevenger
- “So kind and thoughtful, Virginia is amazing to work with!” -Rosa Madden
- “Virginia is not only an amazing journalist, she’s an incredibly sweet and understanding human being. She is always willing to help other people even if it means taking time away from her own work, she made the class so much more hilarious and fun. There were a few times I was just super stuck, whether that was trying to figure out how to work photoshop or just having a rough morning, and Virginia never failed to cheer me up or to help me in any way that she could. She’s going places!” -Jayla Lowery
- “Virginia was a great leader this year. She was really great at helping choose interesting articles for the issues and consistently wrote important articles. If we needed an article written on short notice, Virginia was always there to step in and write it.” -James Martini
- “I laughed so much over the funniest, weirdest, and most random things you, Jayla, and myself would hear or talk about during class.” -Michael Lang
- “Virginia is so sweet and caring, and she never fails to brighten my day. I’m so glad I had Journalism with her, and I’ll miss her so much next year!” -Scout Jacobs
- “Always fun to see her in class or pass her in the hall. Had so much fun getting to know her this year and I loved her style. The fuzzy sweaters always made me smile.” -Gwynne Olson
- “Since starting Journalism lat year, Viriginia has always been there to help me and talk to me whenever I needed her. She is so sweet and hardworking. I will miss her so much next year!” -Annie Landgraf
Honoring our seniors: Jack Kelley
Jack served for two years with Jesuit Chronicle, starting as a writer and developing as an editor. He served as Associate Chief Editor during his senior year. In the fall, he will be attending Brown University. His favorite memories from journalism are the “late nights”.
- Jack’s sarcasm and wit always make me laugh. Just all around good vibes. Thanks for letting me awkwardly tag along with you and Nathan to Kaylee’s orchestra concert! –Shawna Muckle
- Jack is such a hard worker and cares so much about journalism and his work. It was always so awesome to see how much he cared about the stories he was writing and how hard he worked to make sure they were well-informed and high quality. I really liked having class with such a hard-working, funny and kind person. –Jayla Lowery
- Jack is always so nice and writes the greatest stories! I’ll always remember working with him at late night and his playlists. –Virginia Larner
- Jack was a really fun presence in Journalism this year. He was always willing to help out and did a great job of keeping the classroom upbeat and cheerful, while still writing great articles about local and greater issues. –James Martini
- Jack is such a hard worker, and he made Journalism super fun! –Scout Jacobs
- Very easy to work and talk with this year in class and you have a great sense of humor. –Micheal Lang
- Jack was the most chill and committed journalist. He never complained, was dedicated to the program, and was always willing to help. –Steele Clevenger
Honoring our seniors: Michael Lang
Michael Lang will be attending University of Portland to study mechanical engineering. His favorite memory from class was the time we spent researching the origin and practical uses of pickle juice in society today.
- “Michael is such a sweet and caring person. He never failed to help someone out when they needed it, and
he was always positive, especially when needed most. He also made journalism so much more funny.” –
Jayla Lowery - “Michael was a great presence in Journalism. He was always there to talk about articles, school, or anything
else and could contribute to the conversation. He always seemed present in some of the best discussion I
had this year about articles and other assignments.” -James Martini - “Very creative. Quiet but helpful, Michael acted like he had been doing journalism for his whole life.” –
Steele Clevenger - “Michael is super smart and brings new ideas and inspiration for journalism. He is friends with everyone
and always fun to be around!” -Annie Landgraf - “Most laid back person I have met. Had so much fun writing the Kobe article with him” -Gwynne Olson
Honoring our seniors: Tristan Robbins
- “Tristan wrote great articles about issues and topics relevant to students today. He could always bring new perspectives and ideas to discussions, able to engage in any conversation.”–James Martini
- “Very funny and engaging to talk to during class.”–Michael Lang
- “Tristan made journalism so much fun and hilarious. He always knew what to say to make someone laugh and made journalism class so much more funny and exciting.” –Jayla Lowery
- “Tristan always had the funniest stuff on his computer. Brought comedy to class.”–Gwynne Olson
- “Tristan is such a nice and kind soul. He is always willing to help and bring new ideas into class everyday.”–Annie Landgraf
- “Tristan was amusing, relaxed, and somewhat of an enigma. He was a very cool guy to work with.”–Steele Clevenger
Honoring our seniors: James Martini
James will study Game Design at NYU next year and his favorite memory from Journalism this year was looking through the archives and finding the wildest articles from the paper in the ’80s.
- “Very skilled with the work you do for this class and I often referred to the outlines of your articles and podcasts as a reference to work up to.”–Michael Lang
- “Besides just being an amazing journalist who always put a lot of time and work into his articles, James is an overall compassionate and sweet person. He was always willing to listen to whatever opinions, stories, or whatever else you had. He made journalism such a fun and homey environment.”–Jayla Lowery
- “James! The most enthusiastic guy! Brings so much comedy and creativity to class. So happy I met him.” –Gwynne Olson
- “James is such a fun and sweet person in class. He always brings such a fun vibe to class and is willing to talk to anyone. I will miss him so much next year.” –Annie Landgraf
- “So creative and curious, James always had an idea in his head. He was easygoing, funny, an intuitive writer, and fun to work with.” –Steele Clevenger
- “James is so easy to talk to and always has great ideas. He is so helpful with photoshop and indesign and I’ll always remember his outfits!” –Virginia Larner
- “James is an absolute boss when it comes to anything computer/technology/Photoshop related. His sarcastic comments and political takes always made me laugh a lot.”–Shawna Muckle
Honoring our seniors: Jayla Lowery
My favorite memory is definitely all of the intense Happy Birthday videos we played for everyone. It was one of the many, many times we all laughed together and made the start to my day humorous and fun.
I am going to Loyola Marymount University and am studying special education and screenwriting.
- “She’s so inspiring in both her words and actions! Jayla’s an incredibly smart and well-versed person. She can simultaneously write fantastic articles about music and thorough, enlightening articles on serious modern issues. Talking to her is always a great way to get ideas for an article.” -Rosa Madden
- “Your sense of humor made Journalism so much fun to be in everyday and I always looked forward to coming to class.”- Michael Lang
- “Jayla is so creative and hardworking, and I’m beyond grateful to have had a class with her. She’s always there to help anyone who needs it, and I loved having Journalism with her!” -Scout Jacobs
- “Jayla is so sweet and creative. She brings new ideas to the class and inspires everyone to be the best version of theirselves while in journalism.” -Annie Landgraf
- “UGH! I love Jayla so much! Such a sweet gril. Loved doing the decades project with her and getting to know her. PS she gives th best hugs.” -Gwynne Olson
- “I’ve had the best time sitting next to Jayla this year! I’ll never forget the Nerds slushie and her amazing outfits!” – Virginia Larner
- “A total people-person, Jayla always made things feel comfortable and chill, even when I felt overwhelmed.” -Steele Clevenger
Day of Giving sparks community
Jesuit’s Day of Giving brings new energy and success in giving back to the community.
To raise money, each year Jesuit used to have students write 10 letters to either family or friends outside of the Jesuit community asking for donations, or their family could give $100. This system, named the Student Fundraiser, mainly targeted student’s families.
Replacing the Student Fundraiser, the Day of Giving is more oriented towards alumni and current students and staff. Students and teachers are asked to give just $3 to help support the Arrupe fund, which provides financial aid to students. Additionally, the alumni are also encouraged to give back to their community.
The donations were sorted by grade, each class competing to raise the most money. The class who raises the most money wins the class cup. This year, the freshman won the cup, and for the alumni, the class of 2008 won.
The Jesuit administration encouraged students to give in a variety of ways, using motivation including a Salt & Straw ice cream party for the class winner and donuts as prizes. At lunch, music played while students could watch their classmates dye faculty member’s hair green.
But why the change?
Vice President of Development Diane Salzman describes how Jesuit wanted a fundraiser focused on alumni support while lifting a potentially burdensome task for students to write to their family and friends.
“We wanted to have a fundraiser that was focused more on alumni and not have students feel obligated to reach out to their family and friends. [We didn’t want them to] have that pressure to write to their family and the obligation of producing a certain amount of money,” Salzman said.
Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs Erika Tuenge also explains Jesuit’s motives to give students and alumni new challenges.
“I think it’s always important to keep it fresh and have new types of challenges for our community. [We also] find ways to increase alumni engagement, but doing it in different ways so they don’t see the same thing year after year.”
The Day of Giving turned out to be a huge success not only financially, but also in how the students and alumni felt about it.
The administration lowered their financial goals, as they were unsure of how the Day of Giving would compare to the Student Fundraiser. However, once the end of the day drew near, their expectations were surpassed.
Raising $193,000, we blew past the previous standing record of the student fundraiser, which was $171,000.
Not only did the Day of Giving raise more money than expected, but it also drew a sense of community within our school.
Theology Christina Barry says she felt the Day of Giving allowed the students to physically partake in giving back to their community and how that sparked a more compassionate and empathetic outlook on donating.
“People showed up. People gave from their hearts. I feel like people gave to where they felt it. Not just like giving your leftovers, but giving to the point where you feel it,” Barry said.
This day was a success for the alumni as well. Jesuit’s administration was surprised by how much the alums wanted to donate. Salzman talks about the alumni’s motivations to give back and how that brought them together.
Salzman said, “The alums [saw student’s] involvement and joy, [and] that inspired them to give back, [as it] brings back fond memories of their high school years.”
Junior Mia Cullivan adds, “I liked that it was targeted towards alumni rather than family relatives because I think past students would have a [greater] inclination to give back since they know Jesuit more personally.”
Rosa Madden, a junior at Jesuit High School, is taking her first year of journalism this year. She’s excited to write articles for the paper...
