Meet a Member: Michelle Harmon
Michelle Harmon will soon be attending her first NFPW national conference in Birmingham, Alabama. It will be fun to introduce her to all our amazing members. When she was a senior at Borah High School in 1980, I was honored to award her first place in the high school writing contest feature writing category during my first term as the Idaho affiliate president. The past several years she has been special to Media Network Idaho in her position as adviser to the Borah High School newspaper and her work as president of the Idaho Student Journalism Association. The Borah student newspaper is one of the top journalism programs in Idaho and usually wins the MNI High School Communications Contest sweepstakes award, like it did this spring. Take a minute to get to know this unique and unbelievable member and be sure to welcome her during our conference in Alabama.
Name: Michelle Harmon
City and State: Boise, Idaho
Michelle Harmon
Affiliate and any leadership positions: Media Network Idaho member and Idaho State Director, Journalism Education Association / President, Idaho Student Journalism Association
Years a member of NFPW: Two
Tell us a little about you.
My first foray into journalism was in eighth grade, when a teacher earmarked me to type the school newsletter. By high school, I had earned a full-ride tuition scholarship to The Ohio State University (1980-1984). I’m a bit of a butterfly in that I took jobs that would allow me to travel, lived in New York City for 12 years.
After 9-11, I rearranged priorities again, and got my master’s in education. I parlayed my teaching certificate to return to Boise, get married, and teach in the same high school news room that my mentor teacher was in. I retired from the Boise School District in May after 13 years of advising the newspaper staff. I finally feel savvy and confident enough to be a writer!
Any career advice you would give?
Never let money be your main motivation. Do what makes you happy, and the money will come.
Michelle Harmon was named 2014 Journalism Educator of the Year by Youth Journalism International
Which talent would you most like to have?
I would love to be able to sing and dance. I wasn’t lucky enough for them to come with my writing talent.
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
Where I live, Boise, Idaho.
What book are you reading?
Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlando. I also recently read Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose. I am also reading an academic introduction to Hamlet, because that is one of my next profile/feature pieces I will write.
What would people be surprised to learn about you?
I’m an Army brat — lived in 5 states by the time I was 5 years old. I think it gave me the travel bug that distracted me after I graduated college.
Why is your affiliate and NFPW important to you?
1980 Idaho Press Women high school writing contest first place award for feature writing.
Originally, NFPW and Media Network Idaho were important to me as a high school newspaper adviser. My students always did well, and the awards they won were invaluable to them and their parents. For example, one autistic student that graduated from my newspaper program went to college (a revived dream for the student’s parents) and wrote movie reviews for the university’s newspaper (print and online).
Earlier this year, I discovered my own high school first place feature award from Teri and the Idaho Affiliate. Now, NFPW is recognizing my writing on a national level nearly 40 years later. It’s confirmation that I have the talent to write, and I should be doing so.
Way to follow you on a website, twitter, Facebook, etc.
Twitter: @mrharmon
Explore posts in the same categories: Media Network Idaho, NFPW, UncategorizedTags: Idaho, Idaho Student Journalism Association, journalism, Michelle Harmon, NFPW
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
Talking with Teri 
Leave a Reply