Field Notes is the student literary magazine for St. Michael Catholic High School.  The Field Notes content will be a collection of our students’ creative writing, artistic, photographic and musical creations. The selection, design/layout and distribution process is being developed and managed by our Journalism class. This is our first year to engage in this project and we are excited to lay the groundwork for what we hope will be a meaningful and enduring publication for our school community. 

Our aim is to create a space where we can draw attention to the beauty present in the community of St. Michael and the world around us. The beauty of creation is made by God. God provides us with beautiful things to magnify His glory; beholding beauty is a way to grow closer to Him.  

We chose the name Field Notes because our school is built on fields donated by a local Catholic farming family. Field Notes is a reminder of this act of charity, while also highlighting our beautiful locale that is unique to our school. Field Notes are also generally known as written or recorded observations.  While technically used in the scientific or research fields, this term can be applied to any personal observational endeavor.  Our literary magazine is a collection of pieces that reflect our students’ creative response to the world around them.  

Each year we will pick a theme that will offer an inspirational launching point for the creative students in our school to respond to. Jonah Daughtery proposed the selected theme for our inaugural issue: Rooted. 

Roots are the foundation to everything. We can speak of roots in literal biological terms - the parts of plants that provide nourishment.  They are required for the plant’s survival, growth and flourishing.  They are necessary beautiful components of health and vitality in the life of a plant.  As the saying goes, “The stronger the root, the stronger the tree.” 

We can also speak of “roots” more broadly in a multitude of ways.  Institutions, people and organizations must have good “roots” to grow, thrive and withstand the test of time.  As the inaugural issue of Field Notes, you could say roots are being formed that we hope will grow into something beautiful.  

For St. Michael, we might say that our faith, students and faculty are the foundation or “roots” of the school. They keep the school alive and thriving. The stronger they are, the tougher it would be for anyone to bring us down.

What else might it mean to be Rooted? What contributes to nourishment, growth and flourishing in the world? Click HERE to find out more about our editor's thoughts on Rooted and how we might think about this concept in creative and expansive ways. We can’t wait to see what this might inspire.  

Submissions can be emailed to [email protected]. Deadline for submissions is November 1st.  All submissions must fit the Rooted theme and reflect our Catholic moral ethic. No sexually graphic or lewd content will be permitted. Submissions will be anonymously reviewed and judged by the Journalism class. Only upon selection will the artist/writer/composer be named and recognized.

Editor - Jonah Daughtery

Content Team - Marianna Barragan, Kate Barranco, Jonah Daughtery (Editor), Cotton Kaiser

Technical and Design Team - Hayden Barber, Laura Byrnes, Grace Rivers (Editor), Francheska Arellano, Mary Kathryn Letcher

Print and Distribution Team -Andrew Korte, Evan Helton (Team Leader), Brice Morgan, Brady Zdyb
Chase Patterson (not pictured)

Communications Team - Ellen Druhan (Team Co-Leader), Emma DeSalvo, Vanessa Jordan (Team Co-Leader), John Weil