In the Shadow of Professionals

KRISTINA FIELDS
Editor in Chief, 7^th Grade,
Hope Academy East, Cleveland, OH

AARON REYNOLDS
Assistant Editor, 7^th Grade,
Hope Academy East, Cleveland ,OH

Collin Coots, an artist from Young Audiences, came to our school for a week to help students in grades four through eight create four foot by four foot paintings of famous African Americans that we had studied in class. This event had local media coverage and a reporter and a photographer from the Cleveland, Ohio Sun Scoop Journal came to interview Mr. Coots. We had the chance to shadow the professional reporter and photographer as they interviewed Mr. Coots. It was a great chance for us to see a real interview in progress. After they interviewed Mr. Coots, we were able to interview them and ask them some questions about becoming a professional reporter or photographer.

The reporter, Ray Jablonski, said that he likes being a reporter. After we watched him interview Mr. Coots, we asked him if he could give us some advice on becoming a reporter. He said, "You have to enjoy writing." Mr. Coots, the artist in residence added, "Practice, Practice, PRACTICE!"

We were very surprised to discover that the paper’s photographer, David Kyle, did not have a life long dream to be a photographer. Mr. Kyle said, "I got my degree in education. I wanted to be a teacher." Mr. Kyle was also a professional basketball player in Europe. His teammate loved to take pictures, so Mr. Kyle asked him to give him some pointers. He enjoyed it so much that he became a professional photographer.

We enjoyed the time with Mr. Jablonski and Mr. Kyle. It was really exciting, and gave us ideas for our future. Maybe someday we will return to our school as professional journalists!