Deana Colón is in her third year of teaching journalism at Omaha South High, and it’s taken a while for her to get here.
Colón said she knew she always wanted to go into journalism or education. “I knew I wanted to be either an art teacher or a journalist. I chose journalism because in the end, I liked reading more than doing art in my spare time.”
After attending the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and graduating with a bachelor of science degree in journalism in 1990, Colón said she worked as a professional reporter in Ralston, Nebraska, and in Northeast Ohio for 10 years.
After leaving the field of journalism and moving home to Omaha, she received her bachelor of science degree in secondary education in 2002 and a master’s degree in education in 2006. Colón also earned her certification in gifted education from the University of Virginia in 2009.
Colón said when she found out that the former South newspaper advisor was leaving the position, she jumped at the chance to apply.
“I knew I needed a change, and when I found out that the former newspaper advisor was leaving, I also found out it would offer me a chance to build The Tooter, the school’s online newspaper, from the ground up,” she said.
In addition to working as a journalist, Colón’s aunt has inspired her to become a teacher. Her aunt, Astra Patterson, has been teaching in OPS for 47 years and has spent many decades as an art teacher at Benson High.
As a professional reporter, Colón said the very first story she was assigned was on the Gulf War at The Alliance Review newspaper in Northeast Ohio.
“I walked into the newsroom on my first day, and the editor tossed a phone book at me and told me to call random people and ask what they thought of the U.S involvement in the Gulf War. I was terrified,” she said. “I had just moved to Ohio and didn’t know anyone or even where I was. I got lost driving to the paper that morning.”
Colón said her favorite thing about teaching journalism is being able to share the world of newspapers and what it’s really like with students. “They also seem to love all my weird stories of things I experienced during my life as a reporter,” she said.
Colón added that a big step in becoming a journalist is to read the news and keep up with what is going on in the world, practice writing a lot and overcome being shy or hesitant.
