I just read a couple of items of interest in today's clips and wanted to address an issue being raised -- the role of a district public information professional in assisting with the news media.
The first, an article titled "Teacher, students lay bad writing to rest" in the Kentucky New Era, showcases a creative fifth grade teacher at Millbrooke Elementary School in Christian County. http://www.ksba.org/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=6GP0UIB&dasi=3UBI
Quoting from the article:
Dana Patterson, a fifth grade writing teacher, wore all black along with a veil as she led the procession of students outside.
A
somber Beethoven combination played softly on an iPod as she told her
students it was the last time she wanted to see words like “ain't” and
“gonna” in the their writing assignments.
Patterson hosted
a series of “funerals for bad writing habits,” giving the students a
chance to rip up the words on index cards and toss them into the ground.
“Teaching it in the classroom works with some kids, but some kids need this hands-on (demonstration),” she said.
One
at a time, each student said goodbye to a list of bad grammar and
improper sentence structure, like using “because” or “and” at the
beginning of a sentence.
Once all the words were in the
hole, Ariana Cushenberry, 10, shoveled dirt over them as her classmates
pretended to look sad and cry.
I used to be an English teacher. I must say I found the article delightful. Very interesting. I bet those kids will never forget it!
Today's clips carried a second article that referenced the one above, this one an editorial in the same newspaper. http://www.ksba.org/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=6GP0UIY&dasi=3UBI
It starts off this way:
Stories
like the one on today’s front page about a Millbrooke Elementary School
teacher and her students should run in this newspaper more often. The
story is not about anything extreme or extraordinary. No one was in
trouble, went to jail or got hurt. Nor did anyone win an award or set
any records. It is simply a story from the authentic middle, that vast
place where most of us spend our days trying to do good work.
However,
it has become almost impossible to tell these kinds of stories from the
Christian County Public Schools. Over the past couple of years, the
central office has insisted that the district’s community relations
director be present for all interviews between a New Era reporter and a school employee. Over and over, we’ve been told it is the district’s “procedure.”
We
want to get along, but district administrators fail to understand that
using a media handler puts a chill on the natural conversation that
should happen between a news reporter and a story subject. Although it
might not be intentional, there is stiffness to an interview that is
observed by a public relations employee.
We can talk about this when I see you at the Teaching & Learning session, but I wanted to trot it out in front of you here to see if we can generate a discussion.
For me, I very much see the value of such a professional -- as long as he/she performs with respect. It's all about establishing a respected, professional relationship with the media. He/She is not there to run interference but to be of help.
Any response to this, Folks?