SPRING HILL, FLA -- Derek LaRiviere loves teaching journalism to students at Powell Middle School.
He's had a passion for the subject since he was in school. But he didn't start out teaching it. After serving in the Army, he spent 15 years as a sports reporter writing for our partners at the Tampa Bay Times.
Now he's passing the lessons he learned onto his students.
What You Need To Know
- Derek LaRiviere teaches journalism at Powell Middle School in Spring Hill and help the school launch a school paper
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“What I hope they see is that I’m passionate about what I’m teaching so that they understand that what we’re learning about matters," said LaRiviere.
LaRiviere remembers learning about journalism when he was in school. He was the co-editor of his newspaper in high school.
“It was a lot of fun. I never looked at it like a job. It felt like it was a responsibility but the creative side was so important to me and so I when I went to college that’s what I always wanted to do," said LaRiviere.
Last year he helped students at Powell Middle School launch a school newspaper.
“The first reaction we got from the teachers, the administrators, the parents was so overwhelmingly good, like 'this is such a great paper.' And that gave us a big boost," said LaRiviere.Now he's teaching journalism as an elective. He also teaches a course focused on helping students find the right career path for their future.
He brings in guests to speak about different careers so students can get a glimpse into various jobs. He's helping them choose a career they'll love, like he did.
“We go over everything and we give them options and we say, it’s okay to not want to do this job or to want to do this job," said LaRiviere. "There’s nothing wrong with that. But you need to know about them. You need to have the options."