Meet Our NSR Student Editors – Ellie Swanson, Assistant Editor – The North Star Reports – Sponsored by The College of St. Scholastica and The Middle Ground Journal

Meet Our NSR Student Editors – Ellie Swanson, Assistant Editor – The North Star Reports – Sponsored by The College of St. Scholastica and The Middle Ground Journal

Ellie Swanson, NSR Assistant Editor. B.A English Literature from The College of St. Scholastica (2009); current M.S student in 5-12 English Education at The College of St. Scholastica (2016) Volunteer for the Middle Ground Journal: North Star Reports 2012

My name is Ellie Swanson. I live in Duluth, MN and am currently working towards my masters of science degree in English education after graduating in 2009 with a degree in English literature. I have a 9 month old son, and I plan to finish my time as a stay-at-home mom this year. In January I will student teach to finish my degree and then seek a job as a middle school English teacher.

I began working for the Middle Ground Journal in 2012 when the journal was just getting off the ground; at first, I didn’t fully understand the project—its mission, scale, or importance. Over time, I have come to realize the importance of a project like the Middle Ground Journal. It is an open-access scholarly journal with space for undergraduate students to publish, as well as a mission to bridge the gap between K-12 and undergraduate studies. As far as I can tell, it is one of the first of its kind in the History, Global Studies arena. What makes it even more unique is that the North Star Report portion of the journal was designed to be driven by undergraduate and recently graduated students.

I have worked for the North Star Reports in a couple of capacities. For two years I volunteered in North Star Academy’s eighth grade Global Studies classroom, helping students learn how to write quality research papers. As a post-bachelorette education student, this work was interesting and relevant to my future career as a teacher. As we worked with students, we began to see the significance of the North Star Project Reports as resources for middle and high school students to learn about global studies. The reports are still evolving, but with this goal always in mind.

My second and longest running role for the North Star Reports has been as an editor for the published reports. I have a degree in English Literature, so my interest and skill set lend themselves well to this work. Ultimately, however, it is more than a good fit and an interest in the work that keeps me invested in the Middle Ground Journal, it is the mission of the North Star Reports, which aims to be a bridge between K-12 and undergraduate institutions. Also, the incredible dedication and will-power of both Professor Liang and managing editor Kathryn Hirsch cannot be overstated; these two individuals keep us going when our energies flag as well as provide mentorship. It has been and continues to be a pleasure to work with such people on such a unique project.
—
Please contact Professor Liang if you wish to write for The North Star Reports — HLIANG (at) css.edu

See also, our Facebook page with curated news articles at http://www.facebook.com/NorthStarReports
–
The North Star Reports: Global Citizenship and Digital Literacy, The College of St. Scholastica and the scholarly Middle Ground Journal’s online learning community and outreach program with undergraduate and K-12 classes around the world. The North Star Reports has flourished since 2012. For a brief summary, please see the American Historical Association’s Perspectives on History, at:

http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2013/1305/Opening-The-Middle-Ground-Journal.cfm

The North Star Reports publishes edited essays from our students, particularly from those who are currently stationed, or will soon be stationed abroad. Students have reported from Mongolia, Southern China, Shanghai, northeastern China, The Netherlands, Tanzania, Ireland, England, Finland, Russia, and Haiti. We also have students developing reviews of books, documentaries, and films, and analysis of current events from around the world. We will post their dispatches, and report on their interactions with the North Star Reports students and teachers. We thank The Department of History and Politics and the School of Arts and Letters of The College of St. Scholastica for their generous financial support for The North Star Reports and The Middle Ground Journal.

Hong-Ming Liang, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief, The North Star Reports; Chief Editor, The Middle Ground Journal; Associate Professor of History and Politics, The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, MN, USA

(c) 2012-present The North Star Reports: Global Citizenship and Digital Literacy http://NorthStarReports.org The NSR is sponsored by The Middle Ground Journal and The College of St. Scholastica. See Masthead for our not-for-profit educational open- access policy. K-12 teachers, if you are using these reports for your classes, please contact editor-in-chief Professor Liang at HLIANG (at) css.edu