Rachel Sheeley, writing for the Palladium-Item, has a nice article on retiring Richmond High School journalism teacher, Ann Herrman. Not that it’s a huge deal in the scheme of things, but it is very likely that, without her, this blog wouldn’t exist. I had her as a teacher my junior year in high school, and she encouraged me to sign up for the paper. I did, and during my senior year, I fell into a niche writing an opinion column. (Which, by the way, has to be the easiest gig in the newspaper business.) That experience led, more or less directly, to my bloviating around here.
I had to laugh at this:
Some students tried, and managed to, sneak questionable headlines into the newspaper. However, the longer she taught, the more savvy Herrman got.
Now, I’m sure I wasn’t the only guilty party along these lines, but I distinctly remember getting read the riot act following the September 16, 1988 wherein I contributed the sports headline “Richmond scalps Indians after creaming Trojans” — referring to the football team’s victories over Anderson and New Castle respectively.
The newspaper was a great experience. To this day, the students I worked with are some of the most interesting people I’ve had the pleasure to know. Ms. Herrman is retiring after 25 years of working for the paper and the school yearbook. There is a party at the high school on June 18 for former students.
As a former high school journalism adviser (Carmel High School 1979-1999), I had the opportunity to work with Ann over the years. She represents the best in public school teachers and advisers. I wish her well.