"So, What is Nouvelles?": A Crash Course

“Nouvelles? What’s that?” is a question I have unfortunately heard on more than one occasion when friends ask me what club I’m in. And the moment I reply, “It’s the school newspaper club!” all I usually get in reply is a slightly disinterested ohhh. For Nouvelles to be so little-known is an arrow in my writer’s heart, seeing as I’ve been a member for going-on 4 years. But after some reflection, I realized that this was mainly due to a lack of exposure: no one knows who we are! And so below, I’ve written a comprehensive Q&A to all the queries you may have about Nouvelles, what we do, how we do it, and what you can do to help us. Let’s jump straight in!

1. What is Nouvelles?

As you have already read, Nouvelles is Jubilee’s highschool newspaper club, tasked with writing the news articles on JCA’s official website about any important school events. In addition to that major role, Nouvelles works on its own, separate website that contains feature and opinion articles about local events, reviews of various media, and literary pieces created, curated and written by students.

2. What do you do in Nouvelles?

Well, the answer is more complex than simply “writing.” Since Nouvelles is a news club at its core, we tackle all aspects of journalism: how to collect relevant information about recent events, how to present it in an engaging and insightful way via photography and written works, and finally, how to collate it into one giant website for your convenient perusal. All these skills don't come naturally, of course; like anything, they have to be learned. So in addition to making articles for the JCA website, we hold writing workshops every couple of club sessions to hone our craft. Getting comments and remarks from the Nouvelles moderator and any senior writers also contribute towards improving one’s writing skills.

3. How do you do…whatever it is you do in Nouvelles?

Writing articles is a tedious but extremely rewarding step-by-step process. Generally, the order goes like this: get a topic to write about, write the article, submit it for revision, edit the article, and submit the finished article to be added onto the website. Though, of course, this is extremely simplified, and makes it sound like an English class writing task on steroids. Trust me, it isn’t. The real workings are much more complicated, and for any who are interested, I list them in a separate article dedicated to our writing process, here.

4. Say I decide to join, what’s in it for me?

There are actually many perks to being in Nouvelles that hardly anyone realizes. The first and most obvious one is that you learn how to write better! From learning correct grammar to crafting elaborate and well-written pieces, you will carry these writing skills with you through college and beyond, regardless of whether you use them in journalism or not. Good writing is a symbol of one’s understanding of the world.

Second, you learn to appreciate good writing. Similar to how art or music class show us exactly how much effort such forms of expression take to master, writing articles of many kinds will allow you to better appreciate a good written work when you come across it, and will give you an eye for spotting good writers.

Third, you'll be greatly appreciated for being there. Nouvelles works as a tight-knit group, with everyone being responsible for the quality of the final output. Nouvelles, currently, has a small club limit of around 10-12 members, so every bit of effort you put into the club is felt, especially when working towards a big, long-term goal like the website. The feeling of being needed and the joy of seeing your work contribute to something bigger than yourself is truly something that can only be experienced firsthand.

Last but not the least, the work is gratifying. Seeing your very own articles being put up on the internet and read is a very rewarding feeling, especially after all you and your fellow members have gone through to complete them. And, if not for the gratification that comes with one’s own creation, you have to admit that being a part of the school newspaper looks pretty sweet on your college applications.

5. Cool! So where do I sign up?

Near the end of each school year or at the very beginning of the next, Nouvelles holds auditions to decide who will be a member. Don’t worry, the auditions are far from difficult, and I say this as someone who’s had to take them for four separate years. They’re patterned more like aptitude tests in my opinion, but especially catered to writing. Usually, questions involve things about Nouvelles or current social issues.

If you’re scared that you won’t pass the test, don’t sweat it: Nouvelles needs every hand it can get working towards something as huge as a website. Almost all, if not all, members are accepted every year, and I’ve heard that they’re planning to increase the club’s member capacity! But to succeed in Nouvelles, you must be diligent in writing all articles assigned to you, proactive to take on as much work as possible and remind others of deadlines, and patient to learn how to improve your writing capabilities. I’d say passion is important too, but honestly, you gain a passion for writing the more you do it, making Nouvelles an essentially perfect breeding ground for becoming a passionate writer.

6. Anything else I need to know?

Nouvelles holds sessions weekly, usually after school on Mondays or Wednesdays, for one hour and forty minutes each meeting. The Nouvelles moderator changes every school year, depending on the teacher’s workloads, but they have always been English teachers. Nouvelles started off as the official student newspaper for both junior and senior highschool, but this status may also change annually from being exclusively for junior high students or exclusively for senior high students, depending on the availability of moderators. From my time being in Nouvelles, it’s been all three. Keep an ear out for the club accessibility if you’re interested; they’re always listed in the circulars!

If life were a manga, our small and relatively unknown school newspaper club, desperate for new members to keep operational, would be joined by the main protagonist and soar in popularity to become a beloved club by many. Alas, life doesn’t roll that way, and most people don’t take the time to look past Nouvelles’ “boring” aspect of writing. So as a senior member, I can tell you that we need all hands on deck. If you’re interested about getting into writing, or you know someone who’d be perfect for the role, or you’re simply curious about what our club is really like, then I, on behalf of everyone here in Nouvelles, welcome you with open arms.