SALISBURY ó I rarely make New Yearís resolutions.
Instead, I make back-to- school resolutions.
It started in high school when I declared I would stop procrastinating, eat breakfast every day and be on time for school.
When I got to college, my back-to-school goals were more of the same. I vowed to stop procrastinating, avoid the temptation to skip class when it rained and work out at least three times a week.
In case youíre wondering, none of these things ever happened.
My back-to-school ambitions didnít change much when I became the education reporter here at the Post, but my motivations did.
Iím still trying to stop procrastinating, but there are also a few other things I want to do, like blog regularly ó or at least more than twice a year ó and Tweet/ Facebook several times a day.
Iíll work on those things this year.
One of my goals when I took over this beat last August was to get more names and faces in the education section. I think itís fair to say I accomplished that.
I asked you to tell me whatís going on and you did. You called, emailed and posted on Facebook.
And if I wasnít available to make it out to cover something myself, I asked for help. Parents and teachers stepped up to the plate by writing short stories and taking pictures to submit to the Post.
Some weeks we didnít even have enough space in the education section for all the news.
I want that to continue this year. If you think something should be in the paper, tell me.
With 35 public schools in Rowan County, eight in Kannapolis and multiple home and private schools, I canít keep up with everything.
And if you call or email and donít hear back, just remind me. Things get hectic around here at times so itís easy to forget about a message I received at 9 a.m.
Of course, there were a couple of things that didnít happen. Iíve already pointed out my lack of blogging.
Last year, I also resolved to start a weekly senior spotlight feature in the education section.
I had the best intentions at heart. I wanted to showcase more of our area seniors who were doing great things. But time ticked by and the idea never materialized past two spotlights. So Iím trying again this year.
Iíll be sending out a form to each of the area high schools after school gets under way, but I also want to hear from you. If you know of a worthy senior, please let me know.
People sometimes accuse the Post of printing only negative stories about the local schools, but thatís not true. And itís not our goal.
Every week I write an education feature on topics such as new programs to provide more student engagement, teachers who are thinking outside the box and students who are excelling in the classroom.
Maybe instead of making lofty back-to-school resolutions this year I should just aim to meet more people and share more stories. Thatís something I should have no trouble doing.
Sarah Campbell covers education for the Post. Contact her at 704-797-7683 or scampbell@salisburypost.com.
Twitter: twitter.com/posteducation
Facebook: facebook.com/Sarah.SalisburyPost