...the more they stay the same- at least that's how the saying goes. Citizen news editor Jeff Forward once suggested for a potential blog entry, I could take a drive around Elk Grove and make observations.
Well, I haven't taken that "official" drive to check out the sights and sounds of EG. However, last Thursday, I drove to Elliott Ranch Elementary School for its Gallery Night. The students, all 1,014 of them (according to the program I obtained at the door), had artwork on displayed in the multi-purpose room, thanks to the school's new art docent program.
Since I was going to the school straight from the newspaper's office, most of my journey involved driving on Elk Grove Blvd., essentially Elk Grove's "main street." If you're familiar with the location of the Citizen's office, it's near Old Town Elk Grove: all those historic buildings and small businesses. Meanwhile, the elementary school is on the other side of town (or Laguna West, for all intents and purposes), near I-5 and the Stone Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
I usually don't go to this area of Laguna, though I've (or, more accurately, my dad has) definitely driven past it to get to I-5 on our way to San Jose. On that Thursday, during this drive, it felt like I'd left one place to go to another totally different place. As I got closer and closer to the school, the buildings, particularly the houses, started to look quite different than where I had just left: everything was much newer and bigger. It may sound kind of silly, being from Elk Grove and all, but I admit that I was amazed at the differences in surroundings when doing this comparison.
What made this comparison even more significant for me was earlier that day, I had actually visited Old Town to celebrate the birthday of one of my co-workers at the newspaper, June. The staff headed to a Chinese restaurant called Happy Garden (the building was previously the home of the EG Club). It was my first visit to this restaurant, and overall, I had a good experience, particularly with my kung pao scallops. Also, I can't forget the sign that was outside of the kitchen's entrance and written in this manner:
Danger
Men
Cooking
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Two Reporting Assignments/One Day
Tuesday was a long day for me- literally. I woke up at around 6 a.m. to attend a 7:30 a.m. press conference (though it really ended up being a 7:40 a.m. one). The purpose of this press conference was for local city officials to demand Prop. 1B funds from the state government. It was my first press conference, but I was accompanied by a staff writer, Blake Ellington, and we wrote the story together that same day. Basically, the only people at the press conference were government officials/people who organized it and a few members of the press.
The press conference took place at a parking lot at the intersection of East Stockton Blvd. and Sheldon Road, near a Highway 99 interchange. Commuters often park their cars at this lot to ride a bus to Sacramento. I'm quite familiar with this intersection, not to mention the amount of traffic in that area. As a reporter, the hardest thing for me was trying to hear and understand what the people behind the lectern were saying. Besides the cars whizzing through the intersection, there were also the sounds from the nearby highway. It also didn't help that some people didn't speak directly into the microphone.
In the evening, I was in a neighborhood where a shooting had taken place last week. I have a connection to this neighborhood because my old elementary school, Ellen Feickert, is merely a few blocks away from the scene of the crime. In fact, I used to ride the school bus past the street where the shooting had taken place.
For this story, I was supposed to get neighbors' reactions to the incident. The quotes would be added to a story written by staff writer Cameron Macdonald. The prospect of going door-to-door to people's houses didn't appeal to me. What I ended up doing instead was walking around the block: if someone was standing in front of his or her house or was out for a walk, then I would talk to that person. There's also a nearby park (coincidentally just behind my elementary school) where I also found sources. Normally, I feel a little comfortable going up to people and trying to interview them, but compared to knocking on doors, I chose "the lesser of two evils."
One of the things that I realized was that people seemed to relax and feel more comfortable, when they learned I attended Feickert or graduated from Elk Grove High School. This type of personal information isn't related to the story, but just casually chatting with someone can help build trust.
The press conference took place at a parking lot at the intersection of East Stockton Blvd. and Sheldon Road, near a Highway 99 interchange. Commuters often park their cars at this lot to ride a bus to Sacramento. I'm quite familiar with this intersection, not to mention the amount of traffic in that area. As a reporter, the hardest thing for me was trying to hear and understand what the people behind the lectern were saying. Besides the cars whizzing through the intersection, there were also the sounds from the nearby highway. It also didn't help that some people didn't speak directly into the microphone.
In the evening, I was in a neighborhood where a shooting had taken place last week. I have a connection to this neighborhood because my old elementary school, Ellen Feickert, is merely a few blocks away from the scene of the crime. In fact, I used to ride the school bus past the street where the shooting had taken place.
For this story, I was supposed to get neighbors' reactions to the incident. The quotes would be added to a story written by staff writer Cameron Macdonald. The prospect of going door-to-door to people's houses didn't appeal to me. What I ended up doing instead was walking around the block: if someone was standing in front of his or her house or was out for a walk, then I would talk to that person. There's also a nearby park (coincidentally just behind my elementary school) where I also found sources. Normally, I feel a little comfortable going up to people and trying to interview them, but compared to knocking on doors, I chose "the lesser of two evils."
One of the things that I realized was that people seemed to relax and feel more comfortable, when they learned I attended Feickert or graduated from Elk Grove High School. This type of personal information isn't related to the story, but just casually chatting with someone can help build trust.
Monday, June 11, 2007
High School Graduations: The Start of Something New
Last week, I started working at the Elk Grove Citizen. For my first two assignments, I wrote about two graduations: Valley High and Florin High.
What made the assignments even more relevant to me is that my sister is a member of the class of 2007, graduating from Elk Grove High. In fact, Elk Grove's ceremony was before Valley's. I couldn't help but mentally compare the three graduation ceremonies. For instance, Valley and Florin both had student performers sing songs on-stage. They both also had skits, where a group of students would talk about and reminisce over events and memories from the last four years. Meanwhile, Elk Grove featured a student, a contestant in a Poetry Alive! competition, who recited Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken," one of my all-time favorite poems. Elk Grove also had its valedictorian and salutatorian give speeches, which didn't happen at Valley and Florin's ceremonies.
All three of these graduation ceremonies happened at Arco Arena. Although I've lived in the Sacramento area my whole life, I can count on one hand the number of times I've visited Arco (one of those times includes my own high school graduation, class of 2004). As a member of the press, I was able to interview students prior to the ceremonies, as they waited patiently behind the scenes. There was a sense of excitement and nervousness in the air as soon-to-be graduates shared their feelings and plans.
What made the assignments even more relevant to me is that my sister is a member of the class of 2007, graduating from Elk Grove High. In fact, Elk Grove's ceremony was before Valley's. I couldn't help but mentally compare the three graduation ceremonies. For instance, Valley and Florin both had student performers sing songs on-stage. They both also had skits, where a group of students would talk about and reminisce over events and memories from the last four years. Meanwhile, Elk Grove featured a student, a contestant in a Poetry Alive! competition, who recited Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken," one of my all-time favorite poems. Elk Grove also had its valedictorian and salutatorian give speeches, which didn't happen at Valley and Florin's ceremonies.
All three of these graduation ceremonies happened at Arco Arena. Although I've lived in the Sacramento area my whole life, I can count on one hand the number of times I've visited Arco (one of those times includes my own high school graduation, class of 2004). As a member of the press, I was able to interview students prior to the ceremonies, as they waited patiently behind the scenes. There was a sense of excitement and nervousness in the air as soon-to-be graduates shared their feelings and plans.
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