I am into my sixth year at The Gazette, having started here after 20 years as a special education paraeducator with Montgomery County Public Schools. I wanted to fulfill a long-time dream to be a newspaper reporter. My main beat is schools. I am responsible for the School Life page each week, which includes either a feature about events happening in the schools, public and private, or a “Voices in Education” interview with someone who has had an impact on education in the county. The page also includes short items of interest to students, staff parents and other community members. I love the reporting part of my job: getting out into the community, meeting people, adults and children, and learning about all the interesting things going on in the county. The writing? Well, that’s a discipline for me. In addition to schools, I have a geographic beat which includes North Potomac, Potomac and the smaller communities of Cabin John, Glen Echo, Brookmont and the Town of Somerset. Basically, I cover the part of Montgomery County that borders the Potomac River. That includes the C & O Canal National Park, from Seneca to the D.C. line, which often makes good copy and, always, interesting photography. Many short items gleaned from my beat go into the People and Places columns of the Bethesda and Rockville Gazettes.