Medina School Officials Hard to Contact

Medina High School

How frustrating is it when you have a really important question but can't reach the person you need to ask? The goal of this story was to get the opinions of high school principals and school board presidents on Dr. Omula's findings, which say that kids should not play football because of concussions. 

After a month of trying to contact both the principal at Medina High School and the school board president in Medina, I was unable to get any answers. I received one email from the principal, Mr. Jeff Harrison, and one email from a school board member, Mr. Tom Cahalan, in that one month period. 

On the day I sent the first emails, September 8^th, 2016, I also sent Mr. Harrison a public records request for documents that students and parents have to sign before playing football, and a copy of their concussion protocol. I did receive those documents. I received them via email from the athletic director, Mr. Todd Hodkey, on September 21, 2016.
    Concussions affect a lot of families and until you see it happen in person you don't know how serious they are. I was at a high school football Friday night when on a routine kickoff a player suffered a concussion. He did not move while first responders cared for him, eventually taking him off the field on a stretcher. I can only imagine how his family felt in those moments. 

Computer Assisted Reporting Class

I wish I could say I was the only one who had a problem getting in contact with school officials but that is not the case. Out of the fifteen students in our class, eight of them, including myself, were unable to get a comment from the principal or school board president in their assigned school districts. On an issue of student safety eight out of fifteen high school principals and school board presidents could not respond to reporters.

     

    Trying to get in contact with these people may have been frustrating but I learned a very valuable lesson, not everybody will be willing to talk to you. This is something I have never encountered before but I’m glad I did during this project. I would have loved to get in contact with somebody and do an interview but I now know different ways in which to do that. I now know not to just take no as an answer but find somebody else willing to talk. 
    Another valuable lesson I learned was to always be prepared. I learned this early on in the project. Knowing what you are going to say and having a pretty good idea of how the person you are interviewing will respond is always helpful. I have always tried to prepare my questions before interviews but this project has taught me that you can never be too prepared. Overall, this project may have been frustrating but it taught me a lot of valuable lessons I will use for the rest of my life.