Chad Spivey (center) and the first Endor Paddle clients, paddle down the Deep River on the evening of Wednesday, April 1, 2015. Endor Paddle offers tours from 1 to 4 hours in single or tandem kayaks on the Deep River or parts of the Haw River outside Sanford, NC.
Students cried during the celebration of life memorial held by East Lee Middle School on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 afternoon for Quaneisha Richmond, 12, member of the girls' soccer team, who died on April 30, 2015.
Aubrey Dew, 9, dumps buckets of water into a barrel during the kid's bucket brigade challenge at the 2015 Lee County Firefighters' Competition at the Emergency Services Training Center on June 6.
Joshua Benson shows off his bucket full of fresh picked blueberries from Blueberry Hill U-Pick on June 30, 2015.
Ron Jones, Boys and Girls Club volunteer mentor, races to first base to beat the throw from Mrs. B.R., B&G Club gym teacher assistant. June 14, 2015 was the Badges for Baseball end of summer game at the O.T. Sloan Park in Sanford, NC, pitting the law enforcement volunteers against the B&G Club staff.
Victor Garcia assembles the upper structure of the Himalaya roller coaster ride at the Lion’s Club Fairgrounds in Sanford, NC, for the 2015 Lee Regional Fair on Sept. 11.
Nicole Allen, Harper Lee Allen, 3, and Montgomery Allen, 6, trek through the Gross Farms pumpkin patch outside Sanford, NC, in search of good carving pumpkins on Oct. 23, 2015. Harper Lee wanted to carve “a happy face” in her pumpkin, but Montgomery wasn’t sure what he wanted on his.
(from left) Bailey Coffer, 16, Abby Faulk, 15, Kristina Brown, 17, and Kelly Anne Faulk, 16, of the Sanford School of Classical Ballet, sit and chat in the dressing room of the Lee County Arts and Community Center before rehearsal for The Nutcracker on Nov. 118, 2015.
Firefighters work to extinguish the flames of a structure fire on Bragg Street Sunday. The fire began shortly after noon, and emergency personnel were on the scene until after 8 p.m. A total of three buildings were reduced to rubble as a result of the blaze.
Chad Spivey (center) and the first Endor Paddle clients, paddle down the Deep River on the evening of Wednesday, April 1, 2015. Endor Paddle offers tours from 1 to 4 hours in single or tandem kayaks on the Deep River or parts of the Haw River outside Sanford, NC.
Students cried during the celebration of life memorial held by East Lee Middle School on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 afternoon for Quaneisha Richmond, 12, member of the girls' soccer team, who died on April 30, 2015.
Aubrey Dew, 9, dumps buckets of water into a barrel during the kid's bucket brigade challenge at the 2015 Lee County Firefighters' Competition at the Emergency Services Training Center on June 6.
Joshua Benson shows off his bucket full of fresh picked blueberries from Blueberry Hill U-Pick on June 30, 2015.
Ron Jones, Boys and Girls Club volunteer mentor, races to first base to beat the throw from Mrs. B.R., B&G Club gym teacher assistant. June 14, 2015 was the Badges for Baseball end of summer game at the O.T. Sloan Park in Sanford, NC, pitting the law enforcement volunteers against the B&G Club staff.
Victor Garcia assembles the upper structure of the Himalaya roller coaster ride at the Lion’s Club Fairgrounds in Sanford, NC, for the 2015 Lee Regional Fair on Sept. 11.
Nicole Allen, Harper Lee Allen, 3, and Montgomery Allen, 6, trek through the Gross Farms pumpkin patch outside Sanford, NC, in search of good carving pumpkins on Oct. 23, 2015. Harper Lee wanted to carve “a happy face” in her pumpkin, but Montgomery wasn’t sure what he wanted on his.
(from left) Bailey Coffer, 16, Abby Faulk, 15, Kristina Brown, 17, and Kelly Anne Faulk, 16, of the Sanford School of Classical Ballet, sit and chat in the dressing room of the Lee County Arts and Community Center before rehearsal for The Nutcracker on Nov. 118, 2015.
Firefighters work to extinguish the flames of a structure fire on Bragg Street Sunday. The fire began shortly after noon, and emergency personnel were on the scene until after 8 p.m. A total of three buildings were reduced to rubble as a result of the blaze.
Chad Spivey (center) and the first Endor Paddle clients, paddle down the Deep River on the evening of Wednesday, April 1, 2015. Endor Paddle offers tours from 1 to 4 hours in single or tandem kayaks on the Deep River or parts of the Haw River outside Sanford, NC.
Students cried during the celebration of life memorial held by East Lee Middle School on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 afternoon for Quaneisha Richmond, 12, member of the girls' soccer team, who died on April 30, 2015.
Aubrey Dew, 9, dumps buckets of water into a barrel during the kid's bucket brigade challenge at the 2015 Lee County Firefighters' Competition at the Emergency Services Training Center on June 6.
Joshua Benson shows off his bucket full of fresh picked blueberries from Blueberry Hill U-Pick on June 30, 2015.
Ron Jones, Boys and Girls Club volunteer mentor, races to first base to beat the throw from Mrs. B.R., B&G Club gym teacher assistant. June 14, 2015 was the Badges for Baseball end of summer game at the O.T. Sloan Park in Sanford, NC, pitting the law enforcement volunteers against the B&G Club staff.
Victor Garcia assembles the upper structure of the Himalaya roller coaster ride at the Lion’s Club Fairgrounds in Sanford, NC, for the 2015 Lee Regional Fair on Sept. 11.
Nicole Allen, Harper Lee Allen, 3, and Montgomery Allen, 6, trek through the Gross Farms pumpkin patch outside Sanford, NC, in search of good carving pumpkins on Oct. 23, 2015. Harper Lee wanted to carve “a happy face” in her pumpkin, but Montgomery wasn’t sure what he wanted on his.
(from left) Bailey Coffer, 16, Abby Faulk, 15, Kristina Brown, 17, and Kelly Anne Faulk, 16, of the Sanford School of Classical Ballet, sit and chat in the dressing room of the Lee County Arts and Community Center before rehearsal for The Nutcracker on Nov. 118, 2015.
Firefighters work to extinguish the flames of a structure fire on Bragg Street Sunday. The fire began shortly after noon, and emergency personnel were on the scene until after 8 p.m. A total of three buildings were reduced to rubble as a result of the blaze.
F/8 AND BE THERE
the first draft of history
I have worked at three community papers in three different states: Kansas, North Carolina and South Dakota. The experience taught me that people everywhere, though unique in their own small ways, are basically the same -- everyone has a story to tell.
The chance to tell those stories is what I loved most about journalism. Getting to drop into someone's life for a day, or even a few hours or minutes, and learn how they see and move through the world is an unparalleled experience.
As a journalist, I had the opportunity to tell a huge variety of stories. From the simple, everyday moments of a single ball game, or an afternoon picking blueberries, to heart-wrenching struggles, like learning to live as a quadriplegic (featured at the bottom of the page). It wasn't always easy, but it was always rewarding.
"IN AN INSTANT"
This photo story, which was completed for the Rapid City Journal, followed Mark and Josette Schuh after a catastrophic workplace accident that left Mark paralyzed from the neck down. The photos ran alongside a three-part series in April of 2017. The photos won the South Dakota Newspapers Association's 'Best Photo Story' award.
Links to the stories on the