Megan O’Conner, 14, wants to become a photojournalist. After a class field trip last spring to Catalina Island off the California coast, the students in Rod Rau’s Dillingham Adventist School upper-grade classroom were given an assignment to write a newspaper article about their trip. After the class collectively chose the top two articles, Craig Dikes, Bristol Bay Times editor, was asked to choose the better of the them. When he read O’Conner’s article, he was very impressed. He found it hard to believe that an eighth grader could have such a gift for reporting the news. “She writes as good as, if not better than, most of my reporters,” commented Dikes.

O’Conner’s article was printed in the Bristol Bay Times and an early career has been launched. Dikes has given O’Conner several writing assignments and is training her for a career in journalism. She meets with Dikes each Monday afternoon for a weekly journalism assignment list. She has written several articles and has taken pictures that will be posted on a local Web site.

O’Conner, a freshman, and her sister, Taryn, a junior, have attended Dillingham Adventist School since eighth grade. Both are completing high school by correspondence with the assistance of the Adventist teachers.