New Journalism Program Director Appointed

Jenny Dial Creech has been appointed to direct the journalism program at the School. In this position, she will serve as adviser to The ReMarker student newspaper, the Marksmen yearbook and Focus special interest magazine, along with teaching beginning journalism, advanced journalism and graphic design and editing.

Creech comes to St. Mark's from The Athletic online sports publication, a subsidiary of The New York Times, where she was deputy managing editor. She previously worked at the Houston Chronicle, where she was sports writer, NBA beat reporter and deputy sports editor. When given the opportunity to write a regular sports column, she became only one of four female sports columnists in the country.

Her work has been recognized by the Associated Press Managing Editors (APSE), the AP Sports Editors, the National Sports Media Association, the Professional Basketball Writers Association and the Professional Football Writers Association.

In 2017, Creech was awarded the top honor in investigative journalism from APSE for her work on the Baylor University sexual assault scandal. In 2019, she was named Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.

Creech served as president of the Association for Women in Sports Media and was honored as an Inspiring Woman of the Year by the National Womens Soccer League in 2019. 

She was named to the 2019 class of Women on the Move by the Texas Executive Women.

In 2008, Creech was given the Gold Key Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and in 2020, she was recognized with the Joseph M. Murray Award from CSPA, which is given for outstanding service to the Association over many years.

Creech, and her husband Daniel, just moved to the area from Katy with their two sons, Benjamin (4) and Jonah (1).

No stranger to St. Mark’s, she has worked as consultant and summer workshop instructor for all three publications in the journalism program over the past 13 years, most notably as faculty member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association summer workshop at Columbia University (working as a design instructor for both newspaper and yearbook staffs). For the past eight summers, she has conducted newspaper re-design workshops for both The ReMarker and Focus magazine staffs.

“I’m so excited to officially join the St. Mark’s family after spending so much time at the School over the years,” Creech said. “The tradition of the journalism program is unmatched, and I look forward to continuing the excellence by holding our program to the highest of journalistic and ethical standards, producing top-tier publications and working with the talented young student-journalists who come through the program. I am thrilled to mix my passions for journalism and education at a place that supports community and fosters greatness.”

Creech has degrees in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and Columbia University.

She will take over a journalism program that has been one of the most awarded in scholastic journalism for the past two decades: The ReMarker holds the record for most consecutive Gold Crown awards, 19, given by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and the Marksmen yearbook has received national recognition from both CSPA and the National Scholastic Press Association for the past 15 years. Eight students have been named Texas High School Journalist of the Year and one student, Parker Davis ‘19, was named National High School Journalist of the Year in 2019.

The program has grown from six students enrolled in 2001 to one which has attracted more than 120 students in recent years. In 2015, a new publication, Focus magazine, was created to offer more in-depth reporting on single-topic issues and current events. It has won Gold Crown and Pacemaker honors from both publications for stories which offered insight into student-generated topics of importance, including a look at American racial attitudes after the death of George Floyd, gender identity and transgender issues, and, most recently, the human impact on the environment and natural resources, among others.

Creech takes over from Ray Westbrook, who directed the journalism program for 21 years and now serves as Communications director for the School.