Catonsville High School Journalism Teacher is Association's Teacher of Year

Teaching journalism wasn't what Melanie Coates had planned to do when she interviewed for a position at Catonsville High School over a decade ago.

But when the principal told her the opening she was interviewing for was journalism, Coates realized she was perfect for the job.

While her education and teaching background was in English--mostly at the middle-school level--Coates was the former editor-in-chief of her high school paper, and later enrolled at the University of Maryland at College Park with an intent to get a journalism degree, but ultimately decided on teaching.

"It really was the job," she said, sitting in the same room where she was a student years ago.

"It really felt like all roads were headed this way," she added.

In the decade since her coming aboard, Coates has steered the newspaper from print to online, and helped foster collaboration with other teachers around the county.

Her efforts were recognized by the Maryland-District of Columbia Scholastic Press Association, who named her Teacher of the Year. Coates will receive the award at the association's convention in the fall.

Principal Deborah Bittner said Coates has all the skills needed to be a good journalism instructor: a foundation in English, skills in technology and a knowledge of curriculum.

"As the typical paper editions of publications have waned across the country, Mrs. Coates' creative talents have taken our school newspaper, The Comet, to the next level online. She has great foresight for future trends, and we are very proud of her."

When Coates first arrived, the paper was in danger, as fellow teachers were already stretched thin with additional projects, like the school yearbook. Coates recruited more students and learn the publishing skills to keep the print product healthy.

While running a traditional newspaper had its challenges, Coates saw a few years ago that printing the paper was going to come to an end. Just like other newspapers, she saw ad revenue dry up just as costs were escalating.

Coates has embraced the shift to online, although it did happen in stages. This year the newspaper class committed fully to publishing online and saw their efforts pay off in March when they reached more than 21,000 website clicks within a month.

While some students have missed the regular distribution of a newspaper (the class produced two print editions), Coates said switching to online has opened up the realm of coverage.

"Now, there's no reason not to cover something," she said. "Nothing is too small."

Switching to online has also broadened the readership of the paper, as many parents sign up for the e-mail alerts. It is also linked from the school's main website.

"It's re-energized me," she said. "It's certainly kept me on my toes. I know in five years it'll change again."

In addition to keeping Catonsville's news alive, Coates has teamed up with other teachers across the county by working on curriculum together and sharing ideas. She started a county-wide journalism wiki to collaborate and come up with best practices.

Coates knows that the newspaper production class is still key to a paper's survival, as she has seen other school newspapers fold when it became an after-school club.

So far, she has managed to keep her class, despite staffing changes. Coates said she believes the skills the students learn there are much more valuable than many may think.

"Even if they don't become journalists [this class] will require them to become self-directed, problem solvers and critical thinkers," she said.