Cherubs color their Fourth of July with long walk, stories Kelly Regan’s brown bangs are plastered to her forehead, but she does not have the energy to brush them away. Sweat and sun cloud her vision as she squints at a street sign, trying to get her bearings. With a sigh, she trudges on. Regan’s got a long walk ahead of her.On the Fourth of July, Regan, of Overland Park, Kan., and 87 other Cherubs braved heat, humidity and a really long walk to cover Evanston’s 86th annual Fourth of July Parade. “Roger Boye told us the walk would be 15 to 30 minutes,” Regan said. “It was really 45 minutes to an hour, and when you’re hot, sweaty, and can feel your hair getting big, it feels like a three-hour walk.” Cherubs trekked down sun-soaked sidewalks to find parade attendees’ anecdotes for a color story. Once they hit the parade grounds, cherubs combed the crowd for interesting individuals. They interviewed a wide variety of people, from Girl Scouts to float designers and protestors to politicians. “I interviewed the mayor of Evanston,” said Ally Bain, a cherub from Vernon Hills, Ill. “You can’t get a better source when dealing with a community event. She told me how proud she was to see everyone coming together. You could tell she really cared for her community.” For Jim Santel, a cherub from St. Louis, Mo., initiating interviews was a challenge. “I wasn’t as fearless as I should have been,” Santel said. “But you can’t write around bad reporting, so you have to suck it up and approach people.” Cherub instructors recognized that reporting can be challenging, but they hoped the parade assignment would encourage students to break out of their comfort zones. “You have to find the courage and confidence to go up to a perfect stranger and start talking to them,” cherub instructor Mary Lou Song said. “We know that it’s a stretch for some of our students, but reporting is a tremendous first step towards becoming a journalist.” When Bain interviewed the mayor, she forced herself to overcome shyness and fears of reporting. “I was really intimidated at first,” Bain said. “The mayor is the highest political position in Evanston. But I knew I had to be confident and ask questions in a timely fashion, so I had prepared questions the night before. That helped a lot.” Planning ahead was crucial to covering the parade, said Charles Gray, a cherub from La Crescenta, Calif. A long day of interviewing left him hot and hungry, so he spent 45 minutes in line at a local hot dog stand. |
|
| “The stand was really crowded, so I decided to leave, but I got so hungry that I had to come back,” Gray said. “By then, the line was even longer, but it was all worth it because I got to experience a hot dog on the Fourth of July.” To meet his tight deadline, Gray ate his lunch on the way back to campus. “The story was due about five hours later and I was behind schedule,” he said. “I’m never going to forget eating a hot dog while walking for 45 minutes.” Carley Lake, a cherub from Studio City, Calif., didn’t feel quite so rushed. “I work really well under pressure, so I wanted to stay late at the parade in case I could find more sources to interview,” Lake said. “When I got back and looked at all of my information, I thought I had over-reported. I didn’t know what to write about.” Lake eventually settled on a story about Chicago children who participate in a circus group. Her article was later published by the Summer Northwestern. “I was really surprised, but very excited,” Lake said. “I liked seeing my byline.” At the end of the day, Kelly Regan sits on dewy grass, watching Fourth of July fireworks. It’s been a long day, and she is tired. But as the colors reflect off Lake Michigan, she feels a sense of relief. Her story rests in her instructor’s mailbox, and she is content to sit with her fellow cherubs, watch the sky and not worry about deadlines. At least, not until tomorrow. |
|
