Curriculum Detail

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School Level

Department

Non-Departmental Electives

Beginning Journalism

Grades 9-12 | Full Year
This course provides students with an introduction into the world of mass media, with a special emphasis on the verbal/visual connection of communications. We will begin with an overview of journalism – its history, purposes, and development through the years, along with ethical studies, including appropriateness of content, elements of news, and definitions and studies of libel. From there, students will focus on the verbal elements of reporting: interviewing, copy editing, style rules, news writing and in-depth coverage, and specialized styles of writing (sports, arts, editorials, and columns). Next comes an exploration in the visual aspect of communications: basic layout principles, advanced design, and the use of typography, artwork, photographs, sidebars/charts, and color as tools in further telling the story. This course is a preparatory one for students who wish to work on The ReMarker newspaper or the Marksmen yearbook.
Advanced Journalism - Newspaper

Grades 10-12 | Full Year
This course, designed for students contributing to The ReMarker newspaper, provides practical application into the verbal/visual connection in communications. Students will utilize their knowledge of journalistic principles, ethics, appropriateness, coverage, writing, and design to plan and execute publication of The ReMarker, St. Mark’s student newspaper. Real-world experiences include coverage, planning and story development, news and specialized writing assignments, editorial decision making, editing and re-writing, mentoring beginning staff members, layout and design, business management, and circulation responsibilities. Students will follow a production schedule and make decisions which affect the ultimate consumption of the newspaper for its community. Prerequisite: Beginning Journalism or instructor’s permission.
Advanced Journalism - Newspaper (Honors)

The Advanced Journalism Honors course, designed for students contributing to The ReMarker newspaper, provides students whose previous work in Advanced Journalism is of the highest standards of news writing, style rules and copy preparation, feature writing, headline writing, caption writing, opinion writing, page design, and production involvement. Students will utilize their knowledge of journalistic principles, ethics, appropriateness, coverage, writing, and design to plan and execute publication at a higher level than the previous year. The Honors student will go beyond the advanced journalism criteria through consistent pyramid structure in writing general news stories, creative feature stories, opinion pieces that are issue driven and show evidence of research, designs that employ modular design, with a clear dominant leading visual, and willingness to contribute to the newspaper’s production by volunteering for page design responsibility, coming in during free periods and after school to work on stories and designs, and attending Saturday work sessions. Students will follow a production schedule and make decisions which affect the ultimate consumption of the newspaper for its community. Prerequisite: Beginning Journalism and one year enrollment in Advanced Journalism - Newspaper where the student served as a staff member on The ReMarker newspaper.
Advanced Journalism - Yearbook

Grades 9-12 | Full Year
Students will learn feature writing, layout principles, design and graphics, desktop publishing programs (Photoshop and Illustrator) and basic principles of photo usage (coverage, selection, cropping, and decorative techniques). Students in this course may contribute to production of Marksmen, the student yearbook for St. Mark’s. Recommended for students who ultimately wish to pursue leadership positions on the yearbook staff. Prerequisite: Beginning Journalism or Teacher Approval.
Advanced Journalism - Yearbook (Honors)

Grades 11 & 12 | Full Year
The Advanced Journalism - Yearbook (Honors) course is offered to students whose previous work on the yearbook staff meets the highest standards of style rules and copy preparation, feature writing, headline writing, caption writing, layout and design, and production involvement. Students in this course will contribute to production of Marksmen. Students will surpass the standards and expectations of the Advanced Journalism - Yearbook course by adhering to the St. Mark’s and Associated Press style rules in all presentations, designing pages consistent with the design palette created for the current yearbook, developing headlines and headline packages according to style, writing captions that provide all necessary information, and contributing to the yearbook’s production by volunteering for page design responsibility, coming in during free periods and after school to work on stories and designs, and attending Saturday work sessions. Prerequisite: Beginning Journalism and one year enrollment in Advanced Journalism - Yearbook where the student served as a staff member on the Marksmen yearbook.
Creative Writing 7/8

Grades 7 & 8 | Semester 1 only
Great novelists, poets, and essayists use a variety of strategies to weave meaning, complexity, and creativity into their writing. Through selected readings, seventh- and eighth-grade students in this first-semester, pass/fail class will examine techniques used to create meaningful written work. Lessons will center on enhancing diction, syntax, and figurative language, as well as creating interesting shifts and adding insightful plot deviations. Students will be expected to compose their own work and participate in frequent peer reviews. Feedback and guidance will also be provided by seasoned professionals as the creative process is explored. Selected submissions will be shared with students, faculty, and the Middle School literary arts magazine, The Mini-Marque.
Engineering 8

Grade 8 | 1 Semester

This elective course in robotics is available to 8^th-grade students interested in developing technological skills in a project-based environment. Through engineering challenges and in-class robotics competitions, students will learn how to think like an engineer and develop technological solutions to real-world problems. Programming of robotic systems, computer-aided design, and use of the automated manufacturing tools in the Makerspace will be among the core skills developed. This pass/fail course will be a great fit for students who are interested in STEM fields and who enjoy doing hands-on work, thinking creatively, and collaborating in small teams.
Graphic Design 7/8

Grades 7 & 8 | Semester 2 only
Students in this pass/fail course will explore the visual aspects of communication, including basic layout principles, advanced design, and the use of typography, artwork, photographs, and color as tools for establishing a theme. Each student will work with professional publishing software provided by the school to create visually thoughtful spreads. The course will include group instruction, independent skill tutorials, peer reviews, and lessons curated by fellow designers. Students who enroll in the class will contribute to and support the production of the Middle School’s literary magazine, the Mini-Marque, throughout the spring. However, students are not required to take the course to contribute to the Mini-Marque. Dedicated and self-driven seventh and eighth-grade students interested in learning about graphic design and producing an award-winning magazine should consider joining this second-semester course.

Faculty

Jenny Creech

Journalism Advisor

214-346-8341

CreechJ@smtexas.org
Bio
After two decades as a sports journalist with the Houston Chronicle and The Athletic (a New York Times publication), Jenny Creech began her St. Mark’s career in 2022. Here she teaches courses in beginning journalism, advanced journalism (newspaper production) and graphic editing and design (yearbook production). She advises The ReMarker newspaper, the Marksmen yearbook, Focus magazine and the online edition of The ReMarker, smremarker.com. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, she holds a master’s degree from Columbia University.
Douglas Rummel

Science Teacher

214-346-8504

Oregon State University - B.S.
University of Texas at Dallas - M.A.T.

Rummel@smtexas.org
Bio
Doug Rummel is the holder of the Founders Master Teaching Chair (2016) and teaches 8th grade physical science and Information Engineering for juniors and seniors. He joined St. Mark’s in 1998 after nearly a decade teaching 8th grade at the Greenhill School in Addison, Texas. He received his M.A.T. in Science Education from the University of Texas at Dallas in 1988 while working as adjunct faculty in Biology at Brookhaven Community College. He received his B.S. in General Science from Oregon State University in 1983. Doug helped develop a high school introductory engineering curriculum for the Infinity Project, a joint venture between SMU, Texas Instruments, and the National Science Foundation. A co-coach for the St. Mark’s robotics teams, he is heavily involved in engineering education and managing the new shop, makerspace, and biotechnology areas in the Winn Science Center. Doug and his wife Kerrin have two grown children, Jason (a programmer) and Shannon (a middle school science teacher). His outside interests are gardening, fishing, and traveling the world off the beaten path.

St. Mark’s School of Texas

10600 Preston Road
Dallas, Texas 75230
214-346-8000

About Us

St. Mark’s School of Texas is a private, nonsectarian college-preparatory boys’ day school for students in grades 1 through 12, located in Dallas, Texas. St. Mark’s aims to prepare young men to assume leadership and responsibility in a competitive and changing world.

St. Mark’s does not discriminate in the administration of its admission and education policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.