Feedback Foundations

What key words or moments immediately transport you back to JIS? UN Day? IASAS? The PEL Tree? For many of us, it’s all of these and more! And if you spent your High School years on the beautiful Cilandak campus, here’s another word that will instantly come to mind: Feedback.

This student-led magazine has long been woven into the JIS High School experience. Who remembers snatching up a copy the moment a fresh stack appeared at one of the huts? Or eagerly searching for one because they would quickly run out? One of the reasons we anticipated the end of each quarter was that we knew it reliably signaled the arrival of a new edition. And to be featured in an actual Feedback article? Or have your quote appear in one of the commentary columns? Well, that was just the coolest thing ever.

Feedback’s roots can be traced back to the late 1980s — but it wasn’t the first of its kind. Before it came The Wayang in the 1970s, followed by The Grapevine, and somewhere in between, unfortunately, The Fishwrapper.

When longtime Faculty Advisor Ed Goodell arrived in 1990, Feedback was steadily striving to find its footing as a fairly new publication making the shift from typewritten layouts to computer-based designs. Over the next 27 years (with a three-year gap in 1999-2002), he would help shape it into a powerhouse in student journalism — a meaningful avenue of exploration and expression, and a voice for JIS Dragons. 

One cover story from the mid-2000s openly questioned whether extensive renovations being made to the High School campus were worth disrupting the greenery that had long defined JIS. A decade earlier, an in-depth investigation of a new dress code explored the debate on whether the policy would be effective — or if it would infringe on students’ personal freedom. And a more recent feature from just last year, titled “Home Away From Home”, examined how third-culture kids navigate the challenges of adapting to new environments while staying connected to their own cultures.

Of course, Feedback has also set aside plenty of pages for the fun stuff: the latest trends, pop-culture commentaries, IASAS play-by-plays, and musical reviews.

“Feedback has been and remains the biggest, most widespread conduit for student expression on the JIS campus,” Mr. Goodell reflects. “Something very democratizing and validating occurs when parents and school administrators provide such a platform and give students a space to freely report and comment on their world. As such, Feedback cannot help but reflect the spirit of the JIS student body, but, in its very existence, it also reflects the spirit of the broader community.”

This enduring spirit, fueled by his leadership and the dedication of countless student journalists, would help earn Feedback international recognition for both its print and online platforms. To date, the magazine has won six Silver Crown Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

Mr. Goodell’s path to JIS (and Feedback) was sparked by a career crossroads that emerged while he was working at a daily California newspaper in the late 1980s. Possibilities poured in, but he had only one clear goal in mind.

“Two newspapers offered me promotions: one as sports editor and the other as news editor,” he recalls. “I thought deeply about these positions and concluded that if I accepted either offer, I might be permanently turning my back on something I had always wanted to do: live and work in Indonesia — the birthplace of my mother and all of my relatives on my mother’s side.”

His heart was set, and he decided to follow it by accepting a position teaching English to government workers in Indonesia with the Harvard Institute for Development. The initial plan was for him to stay for one year as a pause from the fast-paced grind of daily journalism. That all changed when he agreed to play a round of basketball with United States Embassy employees at “the Big Gym” (now known as the High School Gym).

“I can still remember my feelings as I stepped foot on the campus for the first time. I knew instantly from the look and the feel of the place that this was a school of great merit.”

As fate would have it, the school was looking for a new Director of Publications who would be in charge of printed communication materials, such as school brochures, pamphlets, and so on.

“One other key duty: adviser to Feedback, the student newsmagazine.”

He would fill the position from 1990 to 2020, when High School English Teacher and JIS Class of 1989 Alumnus Yuichiro Hara took over the mantle.

What’s so unique about the High School Journalism Class, which produces Feedback, is that it operates like an actual newsroom. Mr. Goodell describes the experience for students as “on-the-job training” with “immense, real-world lessons”.

“There is a tremendous esprit de corps [common spirit or fellowship] that, under the best circumstances, arises — and that is both invigorating and hard to match in a more traditional classroom.”

The result is a dedication toward truth and amplifying student voices on issues big and small, fun and thought-provoking. Feedback journalists didn’t just report on school news and updates; they raised concerns, asked tough questions (persistently and not always welcomed by administrators), and explored themes deeply relevant to their readers.

Class of 2010 Alumna Audrey Courty recalls “ruffling a few feathers” during her time as a staff writer. In a story about food safety, she questioned whether one of the campus cafes had sufficient measures in place. She never thought “just a simple review” would garner much attention — until it became the talk of the campus. 

“We even had a meeting with the principal,” she recounts with a laugh. “It gave me my first real glimpse into journalism and the power of telling [news] stories.”

Today, Audrey is still ruffling feathers as a journalist and producer for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) digital news team — you can read her story "From Feedback to Front-Page News" here.

Like Audrey, former editor in chief Victoria Budiono (Class of 2020) found that Feedback helped establish the foundation for her growing journalism career in Hawai’i. As a general assignment reporter for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, she is covering stories that “feel really personal and highlight the heart of the community” — a passion that took root in Journalism Class at JIS.

“Writing stories that could actually improve student life — whether that meant pushing for facility repairs or highlighting something cool someone was doing — made me feel like I could really make a difference,” she explains. “I learned that good journalism can shine a light on things that matter — whether it’s calling out problems [in a respectful way, of course!] or telling heartfelt stories. That’s what I’m still doing here in Hawaiʻi.” 

Click here to read more about Audrey's Hawai'i headlines.

While both Audrey and Victoria credit their faculty advisers for shaping their Feedback experience, Mr. Goodell is quick to turn the spotlight back on the students — the writers, artists, and designers whose talent kept the magazine thriving year after year. 

“In my 27 years at Feedback, I never had a staff that was at a loss for talent,” he says. 

Looking ahead, he hopes that future student journalists will “continue to report freely about topics and events that are meaningful to them,” and that JIS will continue to champion their voice. 

“If the vehicle for such expression should continue to be called Feedback, that would make me very happy as well.”