October 21 is the one-year anniversary of the Sparks Middle School shooting. This shooting took the life of my assistant coach and friend, Michael Landsberry, who was a popular eighth-grade math teacher. I was a Sparks Middle teacher for 6 years before coming over to the high school last year. Many of his former students attend my high school, and many incoming freshmen will be his former students. I know the professional media will be all over this anniversary, but is it appropriate for the high school paper? Would it be too painful for those students who knew Mike? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Jerry L. Miller
Sparks High School
Sparks, Nevada
Generally, I would say it is appropriate, but if your students feel differently, go with that. I think it's more painful for the survivors, family, students and friends, to feel that he has been forgotten.
ReplyDeleteTerry Sheffield
Roy High School
Roy, Utah
I totally second Terry! It hurts more for it not to be covered. They're going to be thinking about it anyway, might as way formally pay him tribute.
ReplyDeleteOf course, it's touchy, and must be handled delicately. But I think it's totally possible to appropriately cover this topic in your paper. Additionally, it's high school... if we're supposed to be preparing these kid for "real" life, that's it. Sometimes it's painful. We can't shelter them _too_ much.
Jerry,
ReplyDeleteI believe this has news value. It might be painful, but it could also be a cathartic experience for you, your students and your community. When you present this to your students, you might want to frame it as an opportunity for them to honor the memory of their beloved coach and teacher. Also, since professional media will be covering this, you don't want to get scooped in your own backyard. At the very least, perhaps you could coordinate with the news outlets to have your staff shadow their reporters during coverage. And if your students do their own reporting, those news outlets might agree to publish the students' work.
Please accept my condolences on the loss of your friend, and do let us know what you decide.
Ginny Miller
Tupelo High School
Tupelo, Mississippi
Jerry,
ReplyDeleteI would absolutely consider this worth, and even necessary, covering. I think it's probably a good idea to sound things out in terms of what kind of coverage would be appropriate and helpful for students without reopening the trauma. One thing is for sure, no one is going to get a sense of closure if events like this are just being kept quiet and under wraps. I think coverage would be the healthy way to approach this and help students as well as faculty deal with it.
My condolences to you on losing your friend. I hope you keep us updated on how you are going to cover this event.
Stephanie Floch
Taylorsville High School
Taylorsville, Utah