March 15, 2005 issue

I came to work at the Ann Arbor News as a copy editor in March 1990, and I taught my first journalism class in the fall. Newsrooms and classrooms can be compatible. It works both ways. I want to bring to journalism classes current practices, issues and questions that we actually deal with in today's newsroom. Through my interaction with students, I've learned what produces clarity in a news story.

The best thing about teaching is observing how students' writing can develop and improve dramatically over a short period of time. The worst thing is observing students who seem to give up too soon. Writing is both rewarding and frustrating. It is satisfying, but also difficult because it is a cumulative process.

The good thing about the University is that there is academic freedom not only to teach in a way you want to, but to generate programs and vehicles for students' academic development. The University is supportive, I find, even in financial ways. For instance, we received money for a trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the office of a cable channel and to meet with EMU lobbyists.

I would like to see more ways and means of reaching and encouraging students to develop their writing skills, and to get more opportunities to explore that field for careers and personal growth. Students today should look at where they want to be 50 years from now. Even if they are drawn to a different field now, there is a chance they may take an interest in education, research, creative writing or journalism as a second or third career later on in life.

EMU is a great institution for education. Within that strength, there is a potential to help improve and spread academic instruction innovation for kindergarten through high school. EMU, among other colleges, is in a position to develop that outreach, to bring in more students and help them become successful in a changing work force.

 

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