Public education in Kentucky and across the nation is under intense scrutiny by lawmakers and administrators. Preservation of public education as a fundamental basic right for children is lacking, causing weak public sentiment toward public education.
News reports share daily the issues and challenges facing public education—dwindling support from state and national funding sources amid rising poverty, crime and safety issues in the schools. All of these negatively impact student success. It is the journalist’s responsibility to report these news developments.
But what if journalists could share in an objective, yet meaningful and philanthropic, way the joys and triumphs that students and educators have experienced because of public education?
For example, teachers often go the extra mile for students, even when it means money out their bank accounts. Plus, many students credit their teachers for opportunities they would not have discovered on their own. These stories deserve to be told.
Although news organizations often form partnerships with public schools in their communities, journalists must remain objective as much as possible in their reporting. That leaves little room for journalists to participate in local, social causes. Yet, a philanthropic spirit can be evident in news stories and other services that they produce.
Therefore, journalism students in JMC 397 In-depth Reporting applied their news planning and writing talents to structure course outcomes that would tell the stories of public education. They recorded community oral histories as part of an intensive focus on education reporting, an effort that started in fall 2017.
The project in spring 2018 and fall 2018 expanded to a focus on educators in Kentucky and beyond.
Fall 2018 Students: Sarah Burden, Lauren Campbell, Paige Effinger, Michelle Hawks, Keith Jaco, Destinee Marking, Logan McCuiston, Ashley McVicker, and Cory Sharber.
Spring 2018 Students: Melissa Bergmann, Chrystal Galloway, Keenan Hall, Emily Hancock, Tori Main, Tierra Reese, James Turner.
Fall 2017 Students: Bria Bethea, Bailey Bohannan, Abby Branham, Dacia Brown, Dylan Doyle, Bryan Edwards, Nickolas Erickson, Man Luo, Michaelyn Modglin, Collin Morris, Rochele Rosa, Morgan Shoemaker, Abigail Smith, Payton Strode, Ashley Traylor, Derek Unterreiner Emily Williams, and Krysta Winstead.