Neal Persons' Journalism Blog

In education, teachers often have different ideas about what it means to teach. What is the best way to impart vital knowledge to your students, to prepare them for the world beyond? Books, lectures, and discussions have produced different approaches, and various other ones are tried by teachers across the country. At East Linn Christian Academy, though, the consensus is that high school teacher Mike Reardon has got it figured out. With a degree in nuclear engineering, Mr. Reardon spent four years of his life as a nuclear engineer at the Hanford Site in Washington. Unsatisfied with this job, he took what may seem to some as an unexpected turn in his career. For four more years after his job at Hanford, he became a public school teacher, then switched to being a private school teacher, and has stuck with this job for 17 years. Nowadays he is often found in his classroom, either typing at his desk, or more often talking with students. The range of topics in his conversation vary grea

Summary of Profile Article: Mike Reardon is often found in his classroom, either typing at his desk, or more often talking with students. The range of topics in his conversation vary greatly, from politics to general everyday things. His popularity as a teacher has made after-class discussions a regular thing, as his style of teaching has brought out the educational relationship between teacher and student that before only seemed like an impossible ideal. His lectures, notorious for his fast style of talking, are a favorite among students, despite the difficulty of writing rapid-fire notes to keep up with his train of thought. His patient and humorous take on things makes for lighthearted discussions and debates. Reinforced through this as well is his custom to set up voluntary after-school field trips to debates being held at the local colleges.

Profile: I will be writing a profile about Mike Reardon, a high school teacher in Lebanon. He can be observed at the school he teaches, East Linn Christian Academy. The sources will be him, his brother, and students of his. I'll ask him why he does what he does, and ask his brother (Who is the Head of Story at Disney) about Mike and how they grew up together, and his influence on his brother's career path. I'll also ask students of his about their teacher, and how he is a favorite in the school. This teacher has been regarded in the school as one of the best instructors there. He's often spoken highly of, though he tries to discredit himself on this matter. With a love for debates, he often takes students to publicly held debates, and likes to pose tough questions to the speakers during the public forum segment of the debates.

On Writing: The story of the ear operations stood out to me. I can't say I enjoyed it, but that wasn't the point of them. The descriptive nature made me cringe while reading it. It basically was about how he needed a fluid drained out of his ears, and it required a doctor to lance his eardrum, and this went on for a few weeks. The quote I like comes from a saying he stuck by after this experience. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three time, shame on both of us." This is actually sort of funny to me because it shows how he kept believing the doctor's lies that the operations wouldn't hurt, and they did. He wrote how it was the most intense pain he's ever felt in his life. Review: Two review subjects would be a movie or a video-game. For a movie, I'd be hard pressed to find one, as I am not very knowledgeable about what new movies are out. As for a game, I know that new releases on the Steam page would be a good