HELENA — For over a decade, the Helena Education Foundation has hosted a "Trading Places" event, where members of different businesses and organizations in the community swap roles with someone from Helena Public Schools. So, although most days I am a reporter, I put away my camera to be the HPS communications officer — and Taylor Lassiter, that communications officer, put away her duties to be in the newsroom.
“The Helena Education Foundation’s motto is great schools are everyone’s business, and we know the Helena community already supports its schools,” Becca Leaphart, the organization’s executive director, said. “It has been a long time traditionin helena, but we find it important to remind people of the different resources we have in the community.”
It wasn’t just Taylor and me who traded places. Around 20 pairs explored each other's careers. It is something meant to help the community connect the dots.
“Get to interact with our great kids and then get into classrooms and see the amazing work our teachers do with our students,” Erin Hunt, the C.R. Anderson Middle School assistant principal, noted.
For places like ExplorationWorks, the opportunity is a great way to collaborate.
“All of what we do is designed to complement what is happening in the schools,” ExplorationWorks executive director Heather O’Neill said.
I visited four schools and met with students and teachers to create connections and highlight the work on the school’s sites.
For me, I want to take any opportunity I can to get to know the people in this community because ultimately that is my job as a reporter and journalist to share the stories of the people that make this town go around.
For Lassiter, after learning how to conduct an interview, run the teleprompter, and write a script, she says she has a newfound appreciation for the news.
“It is fun to get to see this side too, and now I have the insight of all the little things that go on behind the scenes, which is very important because it spreads that appreciation,” Lassiter said.
Although at the end of the day we all went back to our normal schedules, one message remains.
“Important roles in the community create a strong community and create strong schools and strong community partnerships,” Lassiter said.
