This past academic year I wrote, edited and helped project manage two issues of Educator, The Temple University College of Education’s 24-page magazine. The fall 2016 issue cover story profiled Linda Darling-Hammond, EdD ’78. After holding high-powered education faculty positions at both Columbia and Stanford universities, the influential educational researcher last year launched the Washington, D.C.-based Learning Policy Institute. Her nonprofit seeks to bridge the gap between proven research and U.S. educational policy.

The spring 2017 issue cover story profiled Jim Percoco, a 1979 College of Education graduate whose emphasis on place-based history learning experiences has resulted in 36 of his students becoming National Park Service rangers. Originally, the story was only going to be a one-page alumni feature. But the more I learned about Percoco, including  his ties to renowned historian David McCullough and historical documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, the more I felt the story was worth a feature. And it certainly was.

To do the story, I traveled to Harpers Ferry National Park in West Virginia to spend a day with Percoco and his students. His back-and-forth dialogue with them illustrates a teacher at the top of his game. Additionally, I took some of the photographs that illustrate the story, including the first cover photograph that I have ever had published.

To view the fall 2016 Educator featuring Linda Darling-Hammond, please click here.

To view the spring 2017 Educator featuring Jim Percoco, please click here.