My beat is covering the school board meetings, stories and topics that pertain to or result from the Re-5J school board meetings.
I’ve attended four school board meetings and I traveled with Superintendent Martin Foster to the CASE leadership conference in Westminster. I did a ride along and interviewed a retiring bus driver that is participating in the Early Retirement Incentive proposed by the board.
I have written two stories. First I wrote a day in the life story about Martin Foster when he attended the CASE conference. This story included recent Colorado budget cuts and how K-12 education is looking for answers to survive these budget cuts.
My second was a profile story about David Weich a retiring school bus driver. Weich is 68 and has been employed five years within the school district. The board approved a retirement incentive recently and David took part to help the district.
I learned that school districts are in tough economic times and I enjoyed getting the chance to meet new people. What I disliked about the stories was trying to piece the story together while giving the most information I could.
I did well on completing the stories on time and scheduling interviews early. I could improve on editing my stories. I wish I knew more about the education system before I jumped into this beat.
