News Writing

This was one of my favorite stories because I managed to capture an issue that students were actually passionate about. The Clarke County School District announced they were proposing to move middle and high school start times earlier, angering many of those in the student body. In this story, I captured that anger along with the voices of several teachers and a district press release in a timely manner -- the proposals were struck down due to the backlash.    

The story centered around U-Lead Athens, an organization dedicated toward helping provide access to higher education for underdocumented students in Georgia. Perseverance and adaptability were key, as three key interviews I did were conducted via Zoom or phone, while no current CCHS student was willing to go on the record with me about the program, forcing me to think critically about how to write the story without them.

CCHS hosted a CCSD Community Conversations event where district safety policies were the focus. I initially wrote the story as a basic event coverage, but with help from my adviser, I realized the actual "story": very few people attended for vital information. It took more work, but I pivoted and the story was better for it,

A story that showed me how to work around stakeholders, "Changing of the guards" focused on the three coaching positions that would be vacant after the 2021-22 school year. My only problem: none of the departing coaches were willing to give an interview. Instead, I had to drastically alter the story with a more future-oriented angle, characterizing the departures through colleagues or athletes while focusing more on the background and impact of the turnover.