On the Road Again

from Winter 2023 M&E magazine

by Middle Tennessee State University

Main Street Mastery

**By day a community room, the senior center space turns into a dance hall for boot scooting.**
Photo by Roselyn Pickens

Journalism class takes trip to tell a community’s stories

By Leon Alligood, Associate Professor

The 2022 version of The Road Trip Class began like the eight that preceded it: Chaos and uncertainty reigned.

Prior to our arrival on May 16 in Winchester, I promised the editor of the Herald Chronicle, our publishing partner, that before the nine students departed on June 1 a stream of evergreen content would be delivered to his inbox. Christmas would come early for his lean staff.

Enter the aforementioned chaos and uncertainty, two of the best tools in my toolbox of pedagogical motivators.

On Day 1, we had zilch. By Day 3, nine stories were in progress. By Day 6, another half-dozen were in the mix.

On June 1, the story count capped at 22 stories, five still image packages, one podcast, and three videos, including a seven-minute mini-documentary about a 97-year-old World War II veteran (delivered just in time for Memorial Day).

What prompted such a flurry of activity? It’s simple. We weren’t in Room 111 meeting twice a week for an hour and 25 minutes. We were together 24/7, in one house, living as embedded journalists in a town where everyone was a stranger. Over meals (which the students cooked), storytelling problems were solved. Everyone heard what everyone else was doing, and no one wanted to be the slacker who wasn’t pulling their weight. Double doses of encouragement were dished out along with slices of homemade cheesecake.

**Margaret Moon of Winchester smiles as friends and family offer birthday wishes.**
Photo by Georgia Smith

Students quickly learned that email wasn’t the best way to reach a subject of a story. In-person persistence worked much better. Georgia Smith aced this lesson. She heard that a beloved hairdresser was retiring after 57 years of cuts and perms. Smith asked to document the woman’s last day of work but was turned down twice. She tried again one day later, and the woman yielded to Smith’s smile. By the end of the hairdresser’s last day, she and Smith shared a tearful hug.

A community learned more about the accomplishments of one of its own; a young journalist learned the importance of telling stories where you find them.

That, along with many 12-hour days, lots of caffeine, multiple editing sessions, and constantly being challenged to do your best, is how The Road Trip Class works.