I have been itching to write a post on this blog for the
last couple of weeks and when I come to finally start, I discover I have not
added a thing since Aug. 2012. When I read that last post, it seems like it was
just yesterday.
Don’t get me started on where that time has gone.
What I am excited about these days is how much good stuff
just keeps happening in the universe of Edmonton’s Inquiring Minds.
Applications were up all around and 2013-14 looks like another great year.
In my little corner over at the Edmonton Journal, EJ School
hosted 6 weeks of remarkable learning and lots of that learning was mine. In spite
of (or maybe because of) the constant, unrelenting pace of change in the world
of journalism, EJ School combined the opportunity to develop the tools of media
literacy with exploration of the business of journalism in an engaging
environment surrounded by history, current events and the downtown world of
work. Together with the great teachers and the students who came with them, I
got to explore downtown Edmonton and the Jasper Ave “retro-fit”, observe the
sports department through the NHL lock-out, dig into the history of many
downtown buildings, check out the view from the Castle Rock offices high up in
Manulife Place, stand next to the Pulitzer Prize won years ago by the Edmonton
Journal, view a thought provoking photo exhibit titled Inclusion & Exclusion at Enterprise Square, watch an epic
curling match at the Brier, discover the spirit of service to others at the
Marion Centre and celebrate the 100th birthday of the Edmonton Public Library.
I also got to know some of the journalists at the Edmonton
Journal. Monday, every week the class on site was treated to a tour by Karen Unland, orchestrator of the innovative project called Capital Ideas. Then Karen
would demonstrate good interview techniques on some staffer. Tuesday and Friday
mornings during an activity that came to prove itself a classic for
understanding the basic skills of observation and interview and metaphorically
titled “Fly on the Wall”, small groups of students spend ½ hour in some working
area of the building. Crime desk, the morning editors' meeting, advertising, marketing,
front desk, security, publisher’s office, Block 1912, linotype machine, Capital Ideas and the occasional journalist’s desk became perfect practice locations
for students. Then the process of the small groups sharing what they discovered
helped everyone understand the nature of distilling and refining interesting information
to communicate to others. Friday, after the editors' meeting Barb Wilkinson would drop by to explain the process of designing a front page for the print version and the class would get its writing assignment to create their own class front page.
Some afternoons were spent sketching in the Atrium or
mining the wealth of riches inside Malcolm Mayes’ editorial cartoons. At least once a week an opportunity was
devoted to a more in depth interview with a staffer. Learning about the skills
of storytelling in photography from Ryan Jackson, the insatiable curiosity that
powers Paula Simons, the unusual route to crime reporting taken by Jana Pruden
or the memorable sports events covered by Curtis Stock proved to be inspiration
for page after page of student notes in their reporter style journals. For me, hearing Paula recount the story of Morris “Two Gun” Cohen reminded me that often truth
can be more astounding than fiction.
I am already incredibly excited about a new group of teachers
and the classes coming in 2013-14.
Holy Temporal Anomaly.
