As an education reporter, I spend much of the year dealing with Salem policy and data. What’s being done to improve the number of kids learning to read? What will this year’s budget mean for local classrooms?
But every June, I get to step back and focus on the students all this work is for.
Salem Reporter just finished its Class of 2023 series – 10 profiles of graduating seniors from across the Salem-Keizer School District, publishing over two weeks.
It’s the fourth year we’ve done a similar series (we missed 2020 due to the general chaos of graduation in the era of Covid). My goal has always been to give a snapshot of who are the young people leaving Salem’s schools, in all their talents, struggles and hopes for the future.
The series took about a month to produce. It started with reaching out to the district’s communications specialists, who contact high schools asking principals for recommended students to profile.
I’ve worked with Emily Reverman in the communications office every year for the series, so by now she has a good idea of what I’m looking for. Some years, I suggest specific students I am familiar with through other reporting over the year.
In general, I strive to get one student from every district high school, plus a few representing special programs such as the Career Technical Education Center and the Teen Parent Program.
We ask school administrators or teachers to suggest students they think are outstanding in some way, whether it’s academics, art, music, theater, sports, leadership, or persistence in overcoming life hurdles to earn a diploma.
One senior, Elizabeth Valencia from North Salem High School, was already on my list following a school board recognition back in January. Others were suggested by principals or teachers at school. Emily sent me a brief paragraph describing each student ahead of an interview, and arranged for at least one teacher or other school employee who knew the student well to sit in.
I usually start interviews by asking students about their main activities – the things they put extra effort into during high school. As we talk, I try to get a sense of what motivates them and why they’re passionate about what they do and how they found their favorite activities.
In interviews, I often share my own memories of marching band camp or softball practices as students detail theirs. The point isn’t to make the interview about me, but I’ve found it’s easier to get teenagers to open up or remember specific stories if they see me as someone who also donned absurd costumes for school spirit week.
Typically, after about 20 or 30 minutes of conversation, I’ll turn to the teacher in the room and ask: “What is this student not bragging about enough?” That always opens up entirely new avenues for reporting. More often than not, there’s some statewide competition or school award a student didn’t mention.
For me, the series exemplifies what I love about local news. Salem is a small enough city that if you work on a cool project in high school or manage to earn a diploma while raising two toddlers, you might just end up with a profile on your local news website.
But it also plays a more serious role for me. Much is made of Oregon and Salem’s low high school graduation rates. Especially since the Covid pandemic, there’s been ample policy discussion about how well high schools are preparing kids for college and careers.
Those questions are important, and they’re ones I report on frequently. But that reporting has to be grounded in an understanding of who students are – the huge range of needs, challenges, passions and circumstances they walk through our schools doors with. Spending time every year with a handful of graduates reminds me to keep students front and center as I do that work.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
