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Collum new editor at the Courier Press

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Melissa Collum

Melissa R. Collum joined the Courier Press as an editor starting Oct. 3. Collum, a Prairie du Chien resident, comes to the newspaper from academia and as the former editor of the Postville Herald, Postville, Iowa. As a CORE curriculum professor at Viterbo University she teaches courses in education, ethics, global studies, and history. By far Collum’s favorite courses to teach are those related to Servant Leadership which foster students’ growth and understanding of service to their community. She will continue teaching courses at Viterbo while at the newspaper. She has a book chapter being published this fall on the importance of teaching Global Education to future educators. 

While at the Postville Herald, Collum worked to feature people and organizations who were strengthening their community and building bridges within the diverse Postville population. Her investigative reporting on environmental and human service issues as well as local and state government were featured in newspapers throughout  Iowa. Collum consistently wrote articles in English and Spanish to broaden the readership of the paper. For those reasons, she is a judge for the Iowa Newspaper Association awards. 

Collum is well known for her work around the world focusing on global educational evaluation. She has traveled the globe, leading teams of educators to assist in the growth of developing nations’ educational systems. Her research focuses specifically on access to education for girls and women. Collum is a Fullbright fellow to Rwanda and began her teaching career in Kenya. 

The importance of service to the community is very evident in Collum’s life. She serves on local, state, and national boards of directors and volunteers her time with many organizations. Additionally, she is currently on the board of the Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies and will be presenting numerous sessions at the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference. As a TedX master educator, she is mentoring 10 educators and is leading the National Conference TedX talks. 

Collum is excited to join the Courier Press and looks forward to emulating the work she did in Postville. It is her hope to broaden the coverage of ‘people doing good’, as well as highlighting the wonderful Prairie du Chien community and surrounding environs. She hopes to follow the examples of both Margaret Fuller and Studs Terkel in her journalist reporting; creating an environment for all voices to be heard, honored, and welcome and a newspaper that reflects the entire community. 

 

Story Ideas

If you have story ideas or would like to meet with Collum, please contact the Courier office (608)326-2441 or email newseditor@pdccourier.com.

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