Parting Schotts

Talking to students about writing and my job

It’s not often I get the opportunity to talk to students about my job. But on Wednesday morning, I had the pleasure of speaking to Erin Medlar’s first-grade class at Schenectady’s Van Corlaer Elementary School.

Erin, who I met last year while serving on grand jury duty, asked me to come in and talk about my job as a sports writer and how important writing is in our life. The one thing I worried about was being too technical about my job. I didn’t want the students to have their mouths open, not understanding what I was talking about.

But I didn’t need to worry. The students asked some great questions, like how I get my story from the hockey rink to the paper, how the paper is made and how important math is with my job. The students were very inquisitive.

One student, Todd Johnson, is a big hockey fan. Knowing that I cover Union hockey, Todd wore his Schenectady Youth Hockey jersey to school. That was cool.

It was a fun half-hour with the students. I hope they learned that, no matter what they do, writing is very important.

today's events