Student Journalism as a Route to Civic Engagement

John Dewey’s assertion that school is a social institution and should reflect the world outside the schoolhouse doors greatly influenced me when I was studying to be a social studies teacher. It would impact how I would approach teaching, leading a building as principal and guiding a school district as superintendent.

Helping our students become fully prepared for postsecondary life in college and career can be a challenge. In the face of constantly increasing mandates, engagement with the outside world is often seen as something to “fit into the curriculum” rather than as a natural extension of the curriculum. Upon being named superintendent in 2014 of Lordstown schools in northeastern Ohio, where I had started as a teacher years earlier, I knew I wanted to create an environment that would stimulate student engagement and instill the philosophy that democracy is a verb!