The path to college starts with just one caring person

Can you remember being very young and wondering what you’d be when you grew up? My first goals were to be a cowboy, then maybe a fireman. A little later I upgraded to wanting to be the second baseman for the Detroit Tigers. These were all fine for kids. But as many of us grew … Continued

Talk Story, Write Story demonstration project is a success story

I used my Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute fellowship this year to test my hunch that trained volunteers could successfully help financially challenged high school students write their way into college scholarships. If my theory was correct, others could do what I had loved doing, mostly alone, for nearly two decades. My Talk Story, Write … Continued

Tad’s tender trap

Originally published on The Columbia Daily Tribune website Tad Bartimus has a way of getting you tangled up in her universe. You say “yes” to some little request, and next thing you know you are helping to save the world. I first met Tad when she was an undergraduate J-School student at Mizzou and I … Continued

Developing storytellers strengthens community

Originally published on The Columbia Daily Tribune website Journalism should strengthen the communities it serves and help the members of those communities lead better lives. Journalists believe an informed citizenry leads to a stronger democracy, that they should speak truth to power, give voice to the voiceless, stand up for the average man and woman, … Continued