Hi everyone!
I’m Lia Salvatierra, LINK nky’s first Report for America corps member here to cover K-12 education.
I arrived this week after packing up in southwestern Colorado, where I was with Report for America for two years covering local government.
I’m so grateful to be here and have a lot to learn about learning in this area before the school year kicks off! I’m new to Northern Kentucky, but I’m seasoned in and hungry for reporting on new places and topics. Counting Kentucky, this is the sixth state I’ve reported on in the last six years, including summers between studying journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill.
My writing has spanned fights over prairie dogs disturbing wedding venues in Ouray County, Colorado to weighing the use of a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence chatbot for psychotherapy in Virginia.
Everywhere has a wealth of its own stories and spirit, and I feel lucky to learn Northern Kentucky’s. When I’m not wordsmithing down in one of those prairie dog holes, I’m pitifully attempting to learn silversmithing or playing outside somewhere. I managed to swallow a lot of water during my last couple of months in Colorado surfing on an artificial concrete wave structure in the Arkansas River.
Besides getting outside (I’m already making leaf-peeping plans) there’s no more satisfying way to get to know a new place than as a reporter. I can’t wait to spend my days asking you all questions about why things work the way they do and why they matter.
This time, I get to cover education in a newsroom grounded in what that represents: hope and growth.
When I applied for another role with Report for America, LINK stood out because of how rapidly and effectively a startup has been able to address missing regional coverage.
I’m originally from the land of startups in California’s Bay Area, and I am drawn to the type of people willing to bet on new solutions like this growing team.
I’m also here for journalism that highlights not just what isn’t working, but also what is.
My biggest subject is the area’s 13 county and independent school districts, the 34 schools under the Diocese of Covington and other involved groups and stakeholders. That means I’m looking at leadership, outcomes, funding and other happenings. I’m also here to examine how this patchwork of districts play with each other, with a focus on equity, or the lack of it.
You can find my stories as they publish at this link.
Like all of LINK’s great work, my goal is to decode things, like the alphabet soup of acronyms created by the powers that be — like the BRIGANCE Early Childhood Readiness assessments, the subject of my first article. I want to ensure parents, educators and students understand the systems in charge.
Telling your stories is also a big (and my personal favorite) piece of the story. I’m eager to meet and learn from as many of you as I can, starting by holding my first office hours session this Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Since our editor Meghan is out of town this week, I thought I would take over her usual spot at Coppin’s, but if you have better ideas I’m all ears! You can email me at lsalvatierra@linknky.com.
(For those not familiar, Coppin’s is located inside Hotel Covington at 638 Madison Ave.)
I’m ready to listen to all things education and anything else you want to chat about, including recommendations for where to buy second-hand furniture and art.