One reporter’s key takeaways from the 77th annual Education Writers Association National Seminar

LAS VEGAS — Last week, I attended the annual Education Writers Association National Seminar. I was expecting to gain new insights for the “Tomorrow’s Talent” series I’m working on with my Richland Source colleagues, Grace McCormick and Katie Ellington Serrao.

While I was in Las Vegas, coincidentally, I ran into my fourth and fifth grade teacher. She encouraged me as a young writer, and has cheered me on ever since. More than the lessons in her classroom, I remember what she taught me about life. She challenged me to think deeply, form my own opinions based on evidence and to be kind, always.

Catching up with her at a conference focused on education was the perfect reminder of exactly why this topic is so important.

Education, and the people who work within that field, touch lives. They shape future generations. It’s deeply human. It matters.

And the job I have — documenting how our local education system works for students and the people within it — is a huge responsibility.

Among journalists from publications like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, to local journalists like myself, I learned how to better tell stories about our local school system. The seminar was not only an investment in this “Tomorrow’s Talent” series.

My expectation of gaining new insights for that series certainly was met. But, the experience also served as a larger investment in the reporters who will cover the ways our community receives an education for years to come.

I returned feeling better equipped to ask important questions about equitability in our education system, hold elected school board members accountable and with a deeper understanding of challenges schools across the country are facing right now.

Let’s dive in to a few key takeaways that’ll inform my education coverage moving forward.

Local counts

Across several sessions, panelists emphasized the importance of local journalism in education coverage.

In the panel on school board elections I attended, for example, panelists discussed the “culture war” happening in education. Topics like diversity, equity and inclusion or transgender youth sit at the nexus of those culture wars.

But, they said, in 2022 when University of Maryland students spoke to school board candidates, those issues didn’t take center stage.

Instead, topics like pandemic learning loss, chronic absenteeism and teacher shortages — which pose difficulties in education no matter where we sit geographically or politically — mattered more to candidates.

Here in Ashland County, national issues are plaguing some school districts, but it’s not necessarily “culture war” topics. Instead, they’re combating chronic absenteeism, or battling bus driver shortages. Panelists suggested listening to and telling those types of stories in our own community is important.

That resonated, because that focus on the local level is exactly what we’re here to provide. It felt validating to hear how much that counts.

In short: there are serious issues that need to be tackled in education. Focusing in on the local level can help to do that.

Students can lead the way

Student voices matter, too. With over 1,100 students we surveyed for “Tomorrow’s Talent,” and over a dozen we sat down to speak with, we realize this.

Still, the session I attended about, “Involving High School Journalists in Education Coverage” was illuminating. We listened to high school student journalists from New York City who shared about a journalism internship they took part in during the session.

One particularly important insight came from a story they shared. Students each had the chance to pitch their own podcasts, and one intrepid student reporter focused his on a school cafeteria and the quality of the meals it was serving peers.

The reporters who’d worked with that student journalist on the story talked about how it wasn’t one they would’ve found interesting on their own. Yet, when the student journalist had pitched and reported the story, it ended up being newsworthy.

Student journalists have an ability to pinpoint those types of stories because they have such a unique perspective of attending school. Offering them opportunities to have their voices heard in our coverage — and to hone their own journalism skills — helps to build a journalism career pipeline, along with strengthening our reporting.

Finding more avenues to include and center student voices is something I look forward to improving upon.

Civics education creates better citizens

Particularly in an election year, each of us will (hopefully) heed calls to vote come November. For our part at Ashland Source, we’ll write about the candidates so you can make informed choices about who you’re voting for.

And at the end of the day, those ballots we cast will provide funding to local schools and determine who represents us at the state and national level.

But imparting the significance of what voting means and why it’s important begins in the classroom. It starts with teachers.

In our introductory session, which touched on youth voters and civic engagement, we learned simply voting isn’t enough.

A strong democracy requires strong civics education. Panelists said that’s predicated both upon studying foundational documents and engaging students.

Civics education serves as the bedrock of an informed citizenry, and deserves a deeper look from reporters on what we’re doing to help our youth understand that. I, for one, can’t wait to dive in.