While we’d like to believe our consistent wins are due to our outstanding writing skills; it would be cruel to not give credit to one of the masterminds behind The Howler: Joe Tomlinson. Joe serves as Edmond’s sole reporter for NonDoc, who chose to take on a community project through Report for America. His project centered on helping novice high school journalists better their journalism skills. With Joe’s advice, not only has the staff improved their writing skills, but their interviewing skills and overall life skills. Not only has he been a mentor, but an ear for the staff to consult.
As we bid farewell to Joe, the staff wants to recognize and celebrate him and his contributions to the Santa Fe Howler.
Alanna
The first time I met Joe I was definitely confused who he was, why he was here and what he was doing. But, after he explained everything to us it all made sense. Since then Joe has been my guy. He’s such a good writer, but sometimes I do worry a bit for his safety with some of the articles he writes. I remember in the beginning of this year, my senior year, I was completely stressed out about an article and I had an insane writer’s block. But, Joe sat me down and we talked about a possible lead and he gave me an iconic title and boom I was cured . That’s just the effect he has on people.
Annabelle:
Although I have only known Joe a short time, his influence will follow my writing everywhere. I think my favorite memory that I have is when Joe ran in last year and told the class that everyone in the Edmond Police department was after him and the whole class lost their mind. So Joe when you are reading this I hope you know that you were James Bond.
Cayden
Joe has carried my newspaper grade for the past three years and for that I am forever grateful. Without him the majority of my articles would not have been comprehendible or even published. He’s funny and keeps up with all of our interests which makes it easy to talk to him and I appreciate the fact that he took time from his professional writing job to teach us without a complaint. Joe, I’m gonna miss your editing skills. Muchas gracias.
Luke
Joe is one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met. He helps me know so much about Oklahoma politics and education and that has helped me understand the world around me so much. I really appreciate all the conversations we had and one of my biggest regrets is not being able to personally use Joe more for articles. I learned so much from Joe both directly and indirectly and he was very pivotal to us winning State twice.
Braxton
Joe has been the sole contributor to my understanding of Oklahoma politics. He is legit a fountain of information and absolutely amazing at cleaning up an article. Genuinely some of the best conversations I’ve had with another human being have been with him. I appreciate how he’s always willing to voice his opinion even if it contradicts your own.
Olive
Thank GOD for Joe. Joe has shown me that while representation in journalism for Oklahoma is lacking, the few journalists who DO represent us are pretty awesome. Between single handedly taking down the EPD on the daily and suffering through EPS board meetings, Joe works hard to put himself in a position to shed light on important topics in our community (something that I feel literally NO ONE else is doing for Edmond). So for that, your superb editing skills, and your ridiculous humor, thank you, Joe.
Drew
Although, I have only been on staff for one year. Joe has made a huge impact on the Howler staff. Without him our articles wouldn’t be as good as they are. Joe always knows how to make us laugh and overall makes Thursdays better than ever. We will forever be grateful for the time and effort he has put into this staff.
Eva
Even though it’s my first year on staff, I see the impact Joe has had on the writing and lives of this newspaper. The Santa Fe Howler has been incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to work with a real life journalist and has inspired many of us to pursue writing careers. We also attribute our back to back wins at state to the help of Joe and Bray. They work hard to make this newspaper run smoothly and keep us writers out of trouble. Wherever your new job takes you, you’ll always have friends at the Santa Fe Howler.
Val
I have only known Joe for a year but his consistency did not go unnoticed. He has helped us edit our articles and given us journalistic advice. Not only that, he’s worked to foster a strong friendship with many of the students, especially the seniors. Joe was not only one of our main editors, but a friend and a good person to talk to, he always has something funny or interesting to add to our long class conversations. I’m glad we were able to work with him.
Bray
When we received word of an opportunity for a reporter to join our newspaper class, I jumped at the chance. As a fairly new adviser, I knew there was a lot to learn and understand about news reporting. Joe was just the sounding board I needed to navigate the intricacies of high school journalism. He brought a level of confidence in my position and the hearts of the news staff. We were made better journalists with the guidance of Joe’s expertise. Although, he is moving on in his news journey, he will leave a legacy at the Howler. I could not be more grateful for our time with Joe and his dedication to the future of journalism.
