//PICTURED ABOVE: St. Marks’ Hicks Gymnasium faced total destruction in the tornado.

As you all know, this has been a crazy few weeks for the greater Dallas community. While the tragic tornadoes on Oct. 20 brought us all challenges, havoc and destruction, I have seen more strength in the Hockaday community these past two weeks than ever before. Instead of dwelling in pain or unfortunate circumstances, everyone has amplified the humanity within them; I’ve seen fewer cell phones, more service, passionate inter-school bonds, school spirit and so much genuine joy.

On behalf of Fourcast, I would like to extend a helping hand to anyone affected by the storm. The whole staff wants to do anything we can to help.

As it did with the other academic classes, the storm also affected the trajectory of this issue of The Fourcast. Originally, we had an entirely written centerspread focusing on a different topic. Centerspreads are typically 2000 to 3000 words, written by junior staff members and incredibly well- researched. A lot of work goes into them, and I want to thank the original writers for their hard work on the story.

But after having a class-wide discussion about the importance of the storm and its effect on our community, we decided it would be more significant to put our old idea on hold and devote our InFocus section to the tornado and its impact. 

This centerspread was a collaborative effort by the whole staff, written in less than a week, and another example of how communities within Hockaday came together. I hope you take the time to read over pages 12 and 13 and find the stories as meaningful as I do.

If you have any questions or comments about this section specifically or The Fourcast’s production in general, please don’t hesitate to reach out. In our newsroom, we hope to communicate effectively with our readers and grow from your input.

The official Fourcast email is [email protected] and you can also reach me directly at [email protected].

Story by Eliana Goodman

Photo by Shea Duffy