Two fellow journalists/friends and I created the first-ever partnership project between our local newspaper and the local public radio station, laying the foundation for a partnership that others had tried for years to get off the ground. Part 1 of this project talked to prominent activists in our local Black Lives Matter movement, and part 2 asked elected officials what they have done to make good on promises, all a year later. Part 1 here:

I discovered that Oregon was way behind its need for school nurses from curiosity. As we approached the first full school year with COVID-19, I wondered how districts and their school nurses would handle it. I quickly found the reality that not only were schools lacking nurses for students, but the state had known this to be true for years and had not done enough to meet its own goals for 2020.

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I love thinking about what goes into a scare. For this story, I talked to a local family who was known for putting on the biggest haunted house in the city. This story explores the intense level of production, training for volunteers, and details that go into perfecting this frightful show. 

For those in the McKenzie Valley, the school is more than just a school. It's a main point of connection for the area, and when the Holiday Farm Fire ripped through, the school was a haven for many fleeing. A few weeks later, staff came together to start the school year for their students and rebuild those bonds after their lives were turned upside down.

I'm grateful to say this story won an award in 2020 from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. It talks to Brenda Brainard, longtime educator with a focus on bringing native history and education to the classroom. It talks about the true history of the first feast, and what we can do to correct myths around the Thanksgiving holiday, while still using it as a time to be grateful for what we have.

Born in 1917, Bernice Homan was just a baby during the Spanish flu epidemic. When she caught the flu, she became seriously ill and her mother was told Bernice wouldn't make it through the night – but she survived. She lived to be a centenarian with the help of a little pumpkin soup, a mother's love, and this year – the COVID-19 vaccine.

Some of my favorite stories I've done have been with others as a team effort. This is another one of those stories. We made a point to talk to our local frontline workers – a nonprofit medical provider for those without healthcare, a grocery worker, a teacher, and a U.S. Postal Service worker – about what 2020 was like for them and what they wanted others to know.

After the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, I knew parents, community members and young ones were probably reeling. Teachers don't have the luxury of shying away from the big topics though, so I wanted to know how they would talk about this. From Kindergarten to high school AP Government, teachers had different approaches.