For the fourth consecutive year, Rose Park Magnet Middle School students worked with Belmont students and instructors in the University’s journalism lab to produce its annual newspaper Edgehill’s Best.
On May 2, the seventh and eighth grade students worked in Belmont’s journalism lab to write their articles with the help of several Belmont students.
This year marked a special transition for the partnership between the middle school and the University. Journalism Instructor Linda Quigley, who has led the partnership since its birth, will retire at the end of the month. She passed the ink to Belmont alumnus Skip Anderson (’94), managing editor the Williamson Herald in Franklin, Tenn. Media studies Chairman Thom Storey asked Anderson to help in the one-day journalism boot camp.
“It is an opportunity to give back to the community,” said Anderson, who studied journalism at Belmont, “and to be there for a project for students because Belmont was invested in me when I was investing in my education, and I have a tremendous respect for that.”
The Rose Park students, hand selected by their teachers, tutorials from Belmont Vision newspaper adviser and journalism instructor Quigley to learn how to develop story ideas, interview sources and write leads.
Edgehill’s Best is a free newspaper with 5,000 circulation that is intended for residents of the Edgehill community. In addition, it is distributed to Metro Council members, on Belmont’s campus, in local churches, restaurants and community centers throughout the summer. Stories cover topics such as school sports, students’ community service projects and nonprofit service providers in the Edgehill area.
