Students pursue journalistic service-learning

Soccer fields, business incubators and barbershops are just a few of the places described in the fourth edition of Krewe, a journal edited by Michael Luke and Sophie Teitelbaum and published by the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South at Tulane University.

Luke, a professor of practice in the English Department, teaches a journalism course with a service-learning component. Every semester, his Tulane students pair with Teitelbaum’s 9th grade English honors students at the New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School. They publish their essays at the end of the semester in Krewe. This issue contains 17 new essays.

They gave us tips and helped us research and form our essays.

Sci High freshman Destiny Dupree

Service learning, at its best, is a coming-together and a genuine exchange. The students come to know one another, and they all learn about New Orleans as writers hit the streets, meet people and ask questions. Their final pieces bring readers to unfamiliar places and helps them see familiar places with fresh eyes.

At a recent release party for the new edition, Sci High freshman Destiny Dupree spoke about her Tulane mentors: “They gave us tips and helped us research and form our essays. They took some of the stress out!”

Proud parents and friends thumbed through the journal, remarking on its good feel and dynamic layout. Graphic designer Tasheka Arcenaux-Sutton described how she draws inspiration from New Orleans architecture and the students’ writing for palette and imagery.

Tulane senior Stephanie Wartelle asked her professor about how to land an internship at a local paper.

Luke was adamant: “Don’t just go there saying you want an internship. Go there with specific stories you’re eager to write and ready to pitch — and your clip from Krewe. Then you’ll stand out.”

Luke’s course and others that explore the city and region, collectively known as the Fredman Courses, are made possible through a gift from Andrew and Kerin Fredman.

Contact Rebecca Snedeker, Clark Executive Director of the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South, to receive a copy of Krewe.