Amie Sitter once studied business until she realized that it was no longer her calling. She couldn’t help but overhear her daughter’s friends vent about their high school teachers, and it made her devastated. Following this conversation, Sitter felt called to this career because she was determined to make a real difference, especially in education.

Sitter wasn’t originally a journalism teacher. Before she started her path at Pahrump Valley High School, she was an English, English language learner, and leadership teacher. In 2020, Sitter took a job as an English teacher at PVHS; the school was in need of filling open positions for elective classes, so the principal gently encouraged her to consider teaching journalism.

For the past five years, Sitter has been teaching English and Journalism. Although she wasn’t initially thrilled about becoming a journalism teacher, she quickly realized her students were passionate about writing, which then inspired her to continue.

Over the years, Sitter seems to consistently give the same constructive criticism to her students, which always involves grammar. Sitter says, “Most of my students have strong ideas but are just really weak in grammar.” Sitter believes that grammar reflects the individual, especially in terms of their education and effort.

While she is in charge of the news site, she does it for her students’ benefit, not her own. “I enjoy the excitement I see in my journalists when their work gets published online.” She makes sure that all of her students’ work is thorough and correct. She does this by having a dedicated team of editors, grammar-checking and fact-checking the journalists’ writing to ensure quality and clarity.

One problem journalism teachers face is copyright, she says. “Thankfully, it has not happened to me yet, but you never realize until you get in trouble for it.” She ensures this by creating an assignment strictly for the photos to directly source who and where the photo was taken.

Sitter wants students to not only leave school with education but also with real-world readiness. It’s important to build practical independence because students need to learn crucial and non-academic skills as well. Sitter employs this method by engaging her students with real-world problems. She tries her best to keep her students educated and to always seek the truth because, as a journalist, you must be accurate and non-biased.

So no, Sitter wasn’t inspired to be a journalism teacher, but sometimes you find yourself teaching a subject that you never expected to teach. Sitter learned to adapt, and that makes her an exceptional educator. Being an educator means being a lifelong learner who has to adapt to different learning styles, and that is who Sitter is.

Although the business career did not give her the fulfilment she was looking for, Sitter is very comfortable and grateful for where she is in life. If you ever have mixed feelings regarding Sitter, take the time to learn her story.