A Teacher's Cry

Abstract

The book is an examination of education from the inside. It is rooted in a four-year project in which I returned to high school and wrote about 100 columns published in The Kansas City Star from studying with the Class of 1999 at Washington High School in Kansas City, Kan. A teacher's cry for attention to what takes place in an urban school led to the project. This book would appeal to educators, teachers colleges, parents, businesses and community groups. The book is broken into teachable moments pulled from the columns. The manuscript insists that community involvement in the schools and in the classrooms is how education can best be improved. Journalists and schools of journalism also would benefit from the book because it teaches a different way of covering education. The book attacks the No Child Left Behind Act and underscores how public education must be the No. 1 concern in this election year. Platitudes are not enough.

About the Author

Lewis W. Diuguid is vice president for community resources at The Kansas City Star. He serves on the editorial board, writes two columns a week for the opinion section and is responsible for The Star's philanthropic efforts in the community. Since 1995 he has co-chaired the diversity initiative at The Star and since 1993 has trained Star Co. staff in diversity workshops.

Diuguid joined the staff of The Kansas City Star-Times in May 1977 after graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism. He has worked as a reporter, photographer, copy editor, automotive editor, assistant bureau chief, bureau chief, assistant city editor, associate editor and columnist. He has written a column for The Star since 1987.

Diuguid, 49, is a founding member, treasurer, newsletter editor and Media Awards Committee chairman of the Kansas City Association of Black Journalists. He is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, a member of the Monroe Trotter Group of Black Voices in Commentary and serves on the Board of Directors of the University of Missouri Alumni Association. He is a certified diversity facilitator with the Newspaper Association of America. He has received several awards, including the 2000 Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism.

See also
Our Fathers: Making Black Men by Lewis W. Diuguid
and Discovering the Real America: Toward a More Perfect Union by Lewis W. Diuguid

More about the author at Northeast News - Faces of Northeast: Lewis Diuguid (October 2019.)