2023 was the 70 year anniversary of McCallum’s opening, which brought the opportunity for coverage of how the school has changed. Because of Austin’s rich history, I was able to be connected not only with McCallum Alum Maggie Slocum, who was part of the school’s first freshman class, but also 99-year-old Carl Shepherd who worked on the construction team for the original school building. I paired these sources, who gave a look into McCallum’s past with the perspective of Dance Director Natalie Uehara, who spoke about the current construction work on McCallum that will become the new dance building, to show what’s in store for McCallum’s future. Because this story had so much information about the past, I went a step further by spending an afternoon at the Austin History Center looking through primary sources like yearbooks, programs and other memorabilia, scanning images that could be featured in the story. This taught me the value of news gathering beyond just interviews and sourcing.
Recognitions: Honorable mention – video feature story, TAJE Fall Fiesta (2023)
