These 3 stories, all coming in during my city desk shift and within about an hour of each other, were stressful and time consuming (since I was trying to also finish the medical school's rural program story). By this time I felt like I had a feel for how to write quick briefs based on media releases. I tried to speak to police representatives when I could and did for the car chase story. Matt helped me out tremendously on that one (and really all of them) by giving me the number of someone who could answer my questions while the PIO was not returning my calls.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Rural Medicine
This was another story passed to me by the ACE's and was a story that grew on me the more I worked on it. The story was originally held a day with the hope of getting an interview with one of the students entering the program, but unfortunately none of the names responded to my calls (only one responded ever and she called me back on sunday, 2 days later). However with the help of a previous Missourian article and a good interview with the director of the program I thought that I at least had the important information down.
High-speed Internet
I picked up this assignment from one of the ACE's and did my best with research and understanding the program and what the award might mean for Columbia. Unfortunately, I was scheduled to work my job that evening and none of my sources were returning my phone calls. I passed all my information off to the ACE's (who in turn passed it off to Mallory) and continued to pass information along as I received it (of course the sources all return my phone calls right as I arrived at work).
Election Day
This assignment was an exciting opportunity to do what I love. I hadn't taken my camera out much during my Missourian shifts so this was a nice change of pace. I worked with Alysha to get the whole story (she recorded audio and I made pictures) and as a result I thought we had a nice collection of images and audio. Alysha, who had never recorded audio before did a great job watching the levels. I put together the audio and stills because I could get it done quicker. After working in the newsroom all day and doing the final edits with Alysha I feel our final piece came together nicely.
Grizzly
Photographing the bears was an exciting chance to make up for the debacle that was the Boone County Fair Queen. It was pretty basic event coverage and I tried to do my best to explain what one would see and talk about the bears trainers. Despite the miserable heat, I watch the show and watched the audience. The first quote of the article came from the little boy sitting next to me and I knew I would have to use it once he said it.
Friday, August 6, 2010
IBM story
This story was fairly simple, mostly just rewriting a media release, however the effort of trying to reach public relations officials was more difficult than I would care for it to be. Getting a return phone call was an uphill battle frequently ending in an awkward phone conversation at an inopportune time. The story went well I thought, I like doing that type of research.
Queen crowned at Boone County Fair
This story was a disappointing experience on all levels, however that is not to say that it was not beneficial. Covering this event was challenging mainly due to my own insecurities. I went into the event nervous and unsure how to cover an event like that. I allowed my attitude to effect my work, causing me to be more cynical and, as a result, made me a bad observer. Although this story was a failure, I learned quickly from it to approach each story with confidence. A story is only as difficult as I allow it to be.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Summer School Ends
First Draft:
On July 16 Columbia Public Schools end their summer session with little fanfare, but with results.
Due to district cutbacks and budget concerns, this summer was the first time since 2003 that the Columbia School District hosted their own summer school without the aid of an outside company. In previous years NewtonLearning, now EdisonLearning, would build the curriculum and provide supplies to teachers.
“We were looking to save money and make it more locally owned,” Jan Mees, president of the Columbia Board of Education, said. By no longer relying on EdisonLearning for the summer school curriculum, local teachers were required to build their own classes, making them more targeted at Columbia youth.
New Curriculum
“When teachers in Columbia write the courses they become rich,” Connie Dewey, Lange Middle summer school principal, said.
Teachers in the district have written class curriculums unique from anything EdisonLearning offered by focusing on hands on learning. Students in elementary and middle school have access to classes taking them to Rock Bridge state park to learn about nature, cooking meals while also learning etiquette, building with cardboard to understand physics and other classes meant to educate and excite students.
The high schools have also made changes to their curriculum to offer more advanced courses and options to complete graduation credits. Students who failed courses during the school year can earn recovery credits in the summer. If a student received between 50-59 percent in a class during the school year they can take a class for credit competition requiring them to complete sections they failed for full credit.
High schools also offered advancement courses in physical education, health and personal finance for students in the summer instead of taking them during the school year, an ACT prep course and online courses. This is the first year online classes have been offered to high school students.
“I think the motivation for students is the credits,” said Ian Mette, Rock Bridge summer school principal said.
Attendance
Summer school attendance numbers were a concern from the beginning. Under EdisonLearning students were rewarded with $100 gift cards for perfect attendance, however the school district is not allowed to offer financial incentives to students.
“The loss of the $100 gift cards did have an effect on attendance, but I think the students that are here are for the right reasons,” Dewey said.
Despite the shrinking attendance overall, 7,100 students this year compared to 7,800 last, not all schools have seen a decline. Hickman high school attendance as of Tuesday, July 13, was 650 students, the final tally for last year was 515.
“I like the emphasis not being about the money,” Marietta Monroe, summer school principal of Blue Ridge elementary, said referring to no longer having the gift card incentives. “The kids seem more interested in learning.”
Funding
When the superintendent and the school board approved summer school in April there was no guarantee it would receive state funding. Budget cutbacks on the state level made summer school funding a possible target for trimming, however when the legislative session ended mid-May summer school remained in the budget.
Despite summer school remaining fully funded, cutbacks were still required.
“(We) sharpened the pencil on the supply budget,” Mary Humlicek summer school director.
Teachers who used supplies provided by EdisonLearning in the past were required to work with less and share with other classes. Administrators tried to get a hold of whatever teachers needed.
“The first week involved me running around town trying to find supplies,” Dewey said.
Despite concerns about funding and uncertainty of attendance numbers, summer school began and ended with few problems. Although attendance shrunk without the incentives, administrators and teachers do not seem disappointed.
“They’re all still here, and it’s the second to last day,” Blue Ridge Elementary kindergarten teacher Linda Kaoenig said.
Weather: more rain
I worked with JPS as part of the team doing weather coverage after the bad storms. This offered me a chance to work with other reporters covering the same topic and use them to bounce ideas off of to improve me research.
Central Missouri Humane Society renovations
This was my first story and started me off with some fun challenges. Having to fill out a sunshine request was a new experience and one that I now know how to do.
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