By Joe Lee
MADISON – Terry Cassreino, checking correspondence before a recent broadcast journalism class at Madison St. Joseph Catholic School, is perturbed as he addresses his students.
“I don’t like surprises on production day,” he says crisply, bringing the chatter to a quick halt. “We work on deadlines. You can’t wait until the last minute to turn in your stories. When you do that, you slow everyone down.”
Cassreino’s direct manner is not unlike what his students will encounter from newsroom bosses should they go into journalism after college. Not all of them will. But the skill sets and real-world experiences his charges are acquiring will prepare them for success, regardless of their professional pursuits.
Before joining St. Joe as communications director in 2012, the New Orleans native and Ole Miss graduate spent nearly two decades in print journalism. With the decline of the newspaper industry, he believes the future of journalism is in multimedia – a hybrid of video, photography and the written word.
The bar at St. Joe is now very high. In 2024, the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association (MSPA) recognized Bruin Sports Radio for having the state’s best high school livestream programming, and the Junior Varsity Bruin News Now was named the state’s best middle school newscast.
Such accolades are nothing new. St. Joe routinely wins MSPA awards, and Cassreino was named the National High School Broadcast Adviser of the Year in 2023 by the Journalism Education Association at the University of Kansas, marking the first time a Mississippi educator received the prestigious award.
“I’ve learned how to be poised on camera from him, and how to interact with others when reporting,” said St. Joe senior Thierry Freeman, who co-anchors Bruin News Now (BNN) with junior Noah Sanders. “We’ve interviewed a lot of notable people. It makes you focused and concise.”
Though BNN sports anchor Addyson Russell will consider nursing school, she says she has grown to love journalism and is confident what she has learned from Cassreino will put her ahead of her peers when she starts college.
Eighth grader Grace Barbour, a reporter on last year’s award-winning JV team, praises her older classmates for making her feel like part of the team. Among them is video editor Jason Buckley, a junior who took a big risk in seventh grade by overselling his capabilities.
“I told Mr. Cassreino I already knew how to edit, and I had no idea,” Buckley said. “He put me right into leadership and responsibility roles. I kind of figured it out, and he taught me along the way. Now I’m editing and producing the newscasts.”
In January 2025, Cassreino took 10 of his students to the Mississippi Capitol to cover the annual State of the State address and participate in an exclusive interview session with Gov. Tate Reeves.
“One team worked on a story about the speech, listening to it and interviewing lawmakers about the governor’s legislative agenda,” Cassreino said. “The other filmed our weekly newscast inside the Capitol and then covered the governor’s exclusive Q&A with BNN and Tupelo High School’s WTHS-TV.
“When it was all over and I saw how excited my students were, I don’t think I have ever felt as much pride in my students as I felt deep in my heart. Watching them work together, cooperate with students from Tupelo to film a co-production newscast, and interview the governor in a mock press conference setting was nothing short of amazing.”
Jack Hall, a 2016 St. Joe graduate and now a practicing attorney in Jackson, won the inaugural MPSA Orley Hood Award in 2014 for being named the outstanding sports journalist in the state.
“It was a watershed moment for me in high school,” Hall said. “Terry taught me to focus on the human aspect of sportswriting, which has helped me in several fields.”
BNN was new in spring 2016 when Cassreino asked Jason Price, then a St. Joe junior, to audition.
“I didn’t like to write, but he told me he believed I’d be great at it,” said Price, who would go on to major in broadcast journalism at Ole Miss and was the NewsWatch Ole Miss sports director for three years. “I started as a sports anchor that spring. He always encouraged enthusiasm, but I grew the most from his advice on my writing.”
“What Terry does for young people is so critical,” said MSPA executive director R.J. Morgan. “He gives them the tools they need to interrogate the world, to discern and understand it.”
“My students work hard,” Cassreino said. “They will learn to be strong, effective leaders. And they will know that successful journalists and successful adults adhere to Catholic and Christian-based morals and ethical behavior.
“I am so thankful for the support I receive from the diocese, the school, and the parents. It is so rewarding for me to know I have made a difference. I try my hardest to give my students experiences the high school student doesn’t normally get.”
