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As a first-year staff writer during my sophomore year, I was inexperienced but extremely energetic. That school year proved to be extremely eventful, with teacher strikes and concerns over school safety dominating our brainstorming sessions. While reporting on these events, I truly found my passion for reporting, especially under time-sensitive high pressure situations.
United Teachers Los Angeles LAUSD teacher strike
Jan. 14-22, 2019
I readjusted the plastic-covered camera draped around my neck to prevent it from tangling with my press badge as I stepped out of the school bus on the morning of January 14, 2019. While jumping over puddles and dodging the pouring rain, I walked past my school’s entrance to report on my teachers at the picket line.
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After multiple failed negotiations between the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest district in the country, and the teachers’ union, my school district went on strike. My school staff and I spent the week prior preparing for this event. Along with two other classmates, I was assigned to be a reporter for the strike. After spending the morning at the picket line, we walked onto campus. Amidst the chaos of having little to no teacher instruction, my classmate and I wrote articles that were promptly edited and uploaded to our website all in one day. As a staff, we were able to post a story with multimedia elements almost every day of the strike. Below are some of the strike stories I contributed to.
"Principal’s plan ready for possible teacher strike"
A fellow staff writer and I reported on the teacher union's plan to strike for the first time in 30 years right before the strike commenced. A lot of questions surrounded this imminent strike. Many students and parents wondered who would be supervising students and how our school had prepared for this. We attempted to answer these questions by interviewing our principal about the school's plans and what students should expect. Additionally, we highlighted student and teacher opinions on the forthcoming strike on our school publication Instagram account.
Spanish teacher Marta Rodriguez and resource teacher Sadia Aziz talk with a parent when teachers distributed fliers on union contract negotiations with the school district back in October.
Photo by Alliana Samonte
"30,000 educators all over LAUSD strike in efforts to help schools"
This article was written, edited, and published all on the first day of the strike and it's one of the articles I've written that I am the proudest of. In this story, two other journalists and I wrote about the events that took place on the first day of this historic strike. Since our journalism advisor was also on strike, she was not guiding our coverage. We researched intensively the reasons for the strike and included that into our story along with quotes from teachers and students. We also made sure to include student reaction to the strike. Many students opted to stay home instead of attending school during the strike, so we had to contact those students virtually for interviews.
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This article was featured on Best of School Newspapers Online.
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It was also chosen as one of the 19 favorite articles out of 2,200 published on Best of SNO in 2018-19.
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It was also chosen as the Best on Teachers Striking for the Best of SNO 2018-19 superlative.
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This article was chosen as a finalist for the "Best News Story" category at the Los Angeles Press Club Awards on July 6, 2020:
Music teacher Wes Hambright, math teachers Leslie Hicks and Lori Seo hold up signs to grab the attention of passing cars during the UTLA teacher strike on Jan. 15, 2019.
Photo by Itzel Luna
"Student attendance decreases as teachers’ strike moves to day two"
The main goal for our reporting on the strike was that we actively worked to find different angles to this complex event. On the first day, we strongly focused on the teachers at the picket line, so our coverage on day two focused mainly on the student experience without teachers in school. We interviewed students who actually attended school and investigated the incredibly low student attendance rate. As reporters, we spent this day on campus instead of on the picket line, observing students and staff.
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This article was featured on Best of School Newspapers Online.
Daniel Pearl Magnet High School seniors Kimberly DeDios and Alyanna Ahorro scroll through their phones to pass the time during class on Jan. 14, 2019. Their class was led by a member of the DPMHS administration instead of a teacher because of the strike.
Photo by Sam Torres
"Teachers from West Valley area rally at local district offices"
During the third day of the strike, we found out that a rally was scheduled at the Northwest district offices, which are right next to our school. Teachers from schools across the Northwest district flooded the streets and occupied the entirety of Balboa Boulevard. After reporting on the strike for two days, we knew this was an opportunity to provide a new focus on our coverage and include stronger sources in our article. With rumors flying around that LAUSD Board Member Scott Schmerelson would be making an appearance at the rally as a sign of support for UTLA, my partner and I quickly typed out questions for him with the hopes of getting to interview him at the rally. After his speech was finished, he was ushered away from the crowd and toward a fence, leading to the exit. Knowing this was our only chance at an interview, we chased after him. Just as the fence closed behind him, we called out his name and introduced ourselves as student journalists from DPMHS and were able to quickly interview him in the midst of this huge rally. Being able to incorporate his interview quotes into the story added credibility and overall strengthened our reporting. Additionally, we were able to interview a police officer on the scene of the rally, providing our readers with a further understanding of how picketers were being kept safe.
Teachers showcased creative umbrellas with each of the United Teachers Los Angeles union's demands on Jan. 16, 2019.
Photo by Julissa Rangel
“I’m a teacher myself and I cannot stand by and let people be abused. Teachers are being abused, so are kids and so are their parents, it’s not fair.”
“I’m a teacher myself and I cannot stand by and let people be abused. Teachers are being abused, so are kids and so are their parents, it’s not fair.”
— Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board Member Scott Schmerelson
“We are standing by to make sure that everything stays peaceful and that (the teachers) have the opportunity to exercise their free speech. We have enough people to deploy to the strike as necessary.”
“We are standing by to make sure that everything stays peaceful and that (the teachers) have the opportunity to exercise their free speech. We have enough people to deploy to the strike as necessary.”
— Police Sergeant Gerald Case
Click the arrow to view the second slide of this Instagram post, which is a video of Schmerelson at the rally.
"Potential end to LAUSD teachers’ strike, agreement pending approval"
Photo by Alliana Samonte
We received word on the morning of Jan. 22, 2019, that LAUSD and UTLA had reached a tentative agreement that would end the strike. I worked on this article with another staff writer. We watched the press conferences and researched the agreement, picking out the most relevant information for our audience and writing a story on it. We had the story done in the afternoon and it was posted that day. We also updated the story once that agreement was officially approved.
Instagram Highlights
After the strike, we created an Instagram story highlight that showcased all videos posted throughout the strike. To view the highlight on our Instagram profile, click here.
To keep our Twitter coverage consistent and accessible to our followers, we also created a Twitter "Event" that includes all Tweets and live-streams related to the strike. Click the tweet above or here to view the entire Twitter Event.
While we were reporting, a few other student journalists and I were approached by a reporter of the L.A. Taco, a local Los Angeles based news publication, who wanted to write a feature story on student journalists. I was one of the students interviewed on my experience as a reporter for the strike and the different focus we took given that this strike was directly impacting our education.
Click the photo above to be redirected to the article!
A feature in the L.A. Taco
Indeed, students at The Pearl Post are young, sharp and will probably come for everyone’s bylines in the future. The student journalists have been diligently covering the UTLA strike, which ended Tuesday, and they’ve been doing it with unique voices – like this video compilation of student opinions on their campus.
Indeed, students at The Pearl Post are young, sharp and will probably come for everyone’s bylines in the future. The student journalists have been diligently covering the UTLA strike, which ended Tuesday, and they’ve been doing it with unique voices – like this video compilation of student opinions on their campus.
— L.A. Taco reporter Maria Castaneda
The article written by Mariah Castaneda about my staff's reporting was featured in the New York Times. Click the photo to be redirected to the NYT article.
Covering the strike was a way of covering history, staff writer Itzel Luna told L.A. Taco. “Our teachers are fighting for our rights by risking their financial stability and covering the strike is a way for me to support and help my teachers.”
Covering the strike was a way of covering history, staff writer Itzel Luna told L.A. Taco. “Our teachers are fighting for our rights by risking their financial stability and covering the strike is a way for me to support and help my teachers.”
— L.A. Taco reporter Maria Castaneda