Reporters Partner with Jones Elementary News Team | Arts & Culture

On Tuesday, January 22, members of 41NBC’s morning news team visited students at Jones Elementary School. The students in attendance were members of the Jones Elementary WJOY morning broadcast team. Students received tips and listened to stories from 41NBC members Kyle Warnke, Melissa Lee, and Jerry Houston.

The topics discussed included overcoming nerves, what happens if the teleprompter stops working, the importance of researching a story beforehand, and ad-libbing.

“The cool thing about what we do is, you never know what your day will consist of,” Ms. Lee told the students.

That sentiment was echoed by Jerry Houston, a morning producer at 41NBC.

“There’s something new every single day,” he said.

Mr. Houston, a former student at Northeast High School, said he got in to journalism because he enjoyed watching Tina Hicks while she worked with 13WMAZ. He explained that he used his passion for writing, coupled with his admiration for Tina Hicks, to pursue a career in journalism at the University of West Georgia.

Mr. Houston is also the one who helped spearhead this opportunity. He attended a family event at Jones Elementary and was impressed with the Jones students covering the event.

Ms. Dawn Scott, Family Engagement/Title 1 Parent Trainer at Jones Elementary, said this was a great experience for the students.

“Some of the students want to do this (journalism) as a profession,” she said.

This was the first meeting between the 41NBC and Jones Elementary WJOY news teams. In the future, the students will receive training on camera operation, and instruction to help develop their overall journalism skills.

- Daniel Daniels, Intern