Chelsea Ronsse, Lauren Knoche and Nikoleta Rukaj are students in Doug McGill’s journalism class at Carleton College. They produced this 4-minute video titled A New Kind of Charter School. (It’s…
Category: <span>Colleges</span>
Vivyan Tran, Sung Hyo Kim, Logan Nash and Mackenzie Zimmer are students in Doug McGill’s journalism class at Carleton College. They produced this 6-minute video titled Representative Journalism: The New…
Sam Benshoof, Briana Cain, Ryeon Corsi and Esther Pak are students in Doug McGill’s journalism class at Carleton College. They produced this 6-minute video titled Hard times on Division Street.
Dan Sugarman, Allyson Herbst, Evan Haine-Roberts, Anne O’Gara and Vincent Poturica are students in Doug McGill’s journalism class at Carleton College. They produced this 10-minute video titled Home Grown: Eating…
Dan Sugarman, a student in Doug McGill’s journalism class at Carleton College, has written a piece titled Dismal as a candidate, Denison wins some fans in office (PDF – full text below).
Dismal as a candidate, Denison wins some fans in office
By Dan Sugarman
On the morning of November 8, 2006, Jon Denison learned that he had become Northfield’s new city councilor for the 4th ward. In a close race that wasn’t decided until after he’d gone to sleep, Denison squeaked past his opponent, Victor Summa, by a mere 49 votes.
The strange thing was, Denison had never really campaigned. He hadn’t attended any public candidate forums, nor had he responded to questions from the Northfield News about his policies, initiatives or ideas. Shocked by Northfield’s selection of such an unknown quantity, resident activist Tracy Davis went to the Internet to voice her dissatisfaction. In a post on LocallyGrownNorthfield.org, a community blog that receives thousands of visits each day, Davis bewailed Denison’s election:
“Last night’s election results in the Fourth Ward, on the City’s west side, were shameful,” Davis wrote. “Jon Denison, a candidate who didn’t campaign, didn’t show up at public meetings, didn’t speak, write, or communicate positions on any issues, received a winning percentage over candidate Victor Summa, who has repeatedly demonstrated deep and sincere (albeit sometimes loud and annoying) concern for our community, and amply shown a willingness to work hard at making it better.”
Carleton College has a terrific informational website for its new Arts Union building (the old Northfield Middle School). In addition to showing floor plans, architectural renderings, and a 3-D “fly-through”,…
Matt Hart, a student in Doug McGill’s journalism class at Carleton College, has written a piece titled Carrying a Torch for Kids Who Dream of College (PDF – full text below).
Carrying a Torch for Kids Who Dream of College
By Matt Hart
In 2001, two third-grade girls from Northfield had a dream.
They would go to college together and be roommates. There was only one problem: Stephanie was a blond-haired, blue-eyed Midwesterner, and Alejandra was Hispanic. Back in 2001, only 18% of Northfield’s Latino population passed the Minnesota Basic Skills Test (BST), a requirement to graduate from high school.
The odds of the girls’ dream being realized looked grim.
That’s not the case anymore though, thanks to the efforts of TORCH, a nonprofit program designed to improve the high school graduation and college enrollment rates of Latino, ESL, and any other would-be first-generation college students in Northfield.
The name stands for “Tacking Obstacles and Raising College Hopes.”
“Students see kids that look like them and are like them making it,” said Beth Berry, coordinator of TORCH at Northfield High School and one of the program’s founders. “And they say, ‘I know her, I know her.’”
Mackenzie Zimmer, a student in Doug McGill’s journalism class at Carleton College, has written a piece titled A Small Town with Big Ideas on Citizen Journalism (PDF – full text below).
A Small Town with Big Ideas on Citizen Journalism
By Mackenzie Zimmer
On any given day at the Goodbye Blue Monday coffee shop in downtown Northfield, you will see several people scanning their computers instead of perusing a newspaper, as they nurse their morning coff ees.
The reason is that Northfield has two citizen journalism blogs, LocallyGrownNorthfield.org and Northfield.org, that are highly popular morning reads in town. With a total population of only 17,150, Northfield has two citizen journalism web sites covering local news, events and activities — Locally Grown, which attracts nearly 7,000 visitors a month, and Northfield.org, with a monthly readership of about 9,400.
Unlike their newspaper counterpart, the Northfield News, these websites provide citizens with more than just breaking news and a calendar of events. They also serve as important social and community hubs by providing a forum for civic discussion and a database of comments on articles from readers. They even showcase other local citizen blogs.
Ryeon Corsi, a student in Doug McGill’s journalism class at Carleton College, has written a piece titled Two Sons of Northfield Remember Malt-O-Meal’s Good Ol’ Days (PDF – full text below).
Two Sons of Northfield Remember Malt-O-Meal’s Good Ol’ Days
by Ryeon Corsi
“I don’t have anything against partying, but if you can’t party and work in the same day, then maybe you should give up one of them,” said the Glenn Brooks of Bill Stanton’s memory.
That was over thirty years ago. Glenn Brooks, the former president of Malt-O-Meal, has long since passed, but Bill Stanton lives on, as does his comrade, Allen Pleschourt.
Today, Bill and Allen remember the wisdom of Glenn Brooks with affection, as they do the many decades of work they devoted to Malt-O-Meal in Northfield.
Next year, the company will observe its 90th anniversary.
“I don’t think anyone grew up thinking they’re going to work at Malt-O-Meal, but somehow we all end up here,” Bill says.