Post by refbasics on Aug 21, 2009 15:03:27 GMT -6
www.dailyherald.com/story/print/?id=315263
Open a locker? We can help with that, too
By Jim Davis | DuPage Editor
Published: 8/21/2009 6:19 AM
Immerse yourself in the story; don't become the story.
That's advice I heard a long time ago. Pretty good advice, too.
I take it to mean: Research the issue well or spend some quality time with the person you're writing about. Walk a mile in his or her shoes. But don't inject your opinion or yourself into the story.
For the past week, Justin Kmitch, our reporter who covers Indian Prairie Unit District 204, has been immersed in the opening of the new Metea Valley High School. It's the first new high school to open in our DuPage office's coverage area since District 204's Neuqua Valley High School opened in 1997.
So it's a pretty big deal, and this week alone Justin has: advanced the opening in Thursday's paper; written about teachers prepping their new classrooms; profiled the artist painting the gym's giant mural of the school's mascot, a mustang; and chronicled the monthslong efforts of the school's athletic boosters and parent-teacher-student groups gearing up for Thursday's opening of Metea.
But the coverage of Metea goes back years. Has anyone forgotten the bitter squabble over leaving the so-called Brach-Brodie property near Route 59 and 75th Street in Naperville, settling instead for a site on Eola Road in Aurora? (Actually, let's hope everyone has forgotten that.) Justin, in a by-the-numbers approach in the Neighbor section two weeks ago, pointed out that the per-acre cost at the original site was $250,000; the current site was $190,000. Other fun facts: cost as of June 1, $124,036,709; student population, 1,250 (just freshmen and sophomores this year); number of desks, 2,300; desktop computers, 952; and, my personal favorite: number of practice football jerseys, all delivered with "Metea" spelled "Matea," 200.
Justin, of course, was on the scene for the opening Thursday of Metea. Intern Amanda Luevano, meanwhile, covered the opening of a new middle school, Fischer, also in District 204.
It was then that Justin and Amanda became part of the story, but in a harmless way. Both were following the Daily Herald dress code: Justin in dress shirt and tie, Amanda in professional business attire. Justin had a map of the school, and even after new students shook their heads affirmatively when teachers asked if they knew where they were going, they'd gravitate to Justin and his map. Students also saw him interviewing other students, so he clearly looked like a guy in charge of stuff. He dispatched numerous students, hopefully in the right direction.
Amanda, starting her senior year at Northwestern University in a few weeks, admitted a small degree of sadness at looking old enough to be mistaken for a teacher. Yet she's not that many years removed from high school that she couldn't empathize with the students struggling with their new environment. She even helped one open her locker.
"She looked embarrassed and flustered as I showed her how to do it," Amanda said, adding, "I think we can all relate to being nervous on the first day."
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this is just too funny!
yes, justin and amanda could have helped that poor freshman from WV to get on the bus rather than walk a mile home, and worry his mother!
but the real question is... can they drive SCHOOL BUSSES.. we need those kind of people! ;D
Open a locker? We can help with that, too
By Jim Davis | DuPage Editor
Published: 8/21/2009 6:19 AM
Immerse yourself in the story; don't become the story.
That's advice I heard a long time ago. Pretty good advice, too.
I take it to mean: Research the issue well or spend some quality time with the person you're writing about. Walk a mile in his or her shoes. But don't inject your opinion or yourself into the story.
For the past week, Justin Kmitch, our reporter who covers Indian Prairie Unit District 204, has been immersed in the opening of the new Metea Valley High School. It's the first new high school to open in our DuPage office's coverage area since District 204's Neuqua Valley High School opened in 1997.
So it's a pretty big deal, and this week alone Justin has: advanced the opening in Thursday's paper; written about teachers prepping their new classrooms; profiled the artist painting the gym's giant mural of the school's mascot, a mustang; and chronicled the monthslong efforts of the school's athletic boosters and parent-teacher-student groups gearing up for Thursday's opening of Metea.
But the coverage of Metea goes back years. Has anyone forgotten the bitter squabble over leaving the so-called Brach-Brodie property near Route 59 and 75th Street in Naperville, settling instead for a site on Eola Road in Aurora? (Actually, let's hope everyone has forgotten that.) Justin, in a by-the-numbers approach in the Neighbor section two weeks ago, pointed out that the per-acre cost at the original site was $250,000; the current site was $190,000. Other fun facts: cost as of June 1, $124,036,709; student population, 1,250 (just freshmen and sophomores this year); number of desks, 2,300; desktop computers, 952; and, my personal favorite: number of practice football jerseys, all delivered with "Metea" spelled "Matea," 200.
Justin, of course, was on the scene for the opening Thursday of Metea. Intern Amanda Luevano, meanwhile, covered the opening of a new middle school, Fischer, also in District 204.
It was then that Justin and Amanda became part of the story, but in a harmless way. Both were following the Daily Herald dress code: Justin in dress shirt and tie, Amanda in professional business attire. Justin had a map of the school, and even after new students shook their heads affirmatively when teachers asked if they knew where they were going, they'd gravitate to Justin and his map. Students also saw him interviewing other students, so he clearly looked like a guy in charge of stuff. He dispatched numerous students, hopefully in the right direction.
Amanda, starting her senior year at Northwestern University in a few weeks, admitted a small degree of sadness at looking old enough to be mistaken for a teacher. Yet she's not that many years removed from high school that she couldn't empathize with the students struggling with their new environment. She even helped one open her locker.
"She looked embarrassed and flustered as I showed her how to do it," Amanda said, adding, "I think we can all relate to being nervous on the first day."
-------------------
this is just too funny!
yes, justin and amanda could have helped that poor freshman from WV to get on the bus rather than walk a mile home, and worry his mother!
but the real question is... can they drive SCHOOL BUSSES.. we need those kind of people! ;D