Finale

MJW end of the week from Katelyn Polantz on Vimeo.

To the students:
Thanks for a great week, and congratulations!

We loved getting to know you, and everyone brought something special to the group.

You're talented, smart and learn fast. Even if you don't choose to go into journalism, we hope you learned things this week that will help you pursue your careers.

Good luck in finishing high school and into college. Please keep in touch with us; we would love to help you in the future.
--Jorge and Katelyn

Hospital article: Technology

The students visited Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for a tour and a chance to interview hospital staff. Two groups of students wrote stories, and Darius Smith took photos.

By AmberLynn Anderson, Shaniqua Anderson and Victoria Liu

A woman lies on her kitchen floor, struggling to reach the telephone. When she calls 911, an Emergency Medical Service team is sent to her house, and treatment immediately begins before she even reaches the hospital.

This image of quick, effective care is the vision that Tammy Kemp, a director at the hospital, sees for Carilion Clinic’s future in the Roanoke Valley thanks to novel technology.

In 2006, Carillon began to implement what is called electronic medical records, or EMR. The hospital contracted with the Wisconsin-based medical software company Epic, which installed the multi-million dollar system 18 months later.

It is an electronic database for patient history and documentation that will phase out the use of paper records; it also allows different departments to “talk to each other,” Kemp said.

With EMR, employees can access information anywhere, which allows treatment to be more efficient.

“It’s a lot more hours in a day,” said Kemp. “It helps by making communication easier.”

Hospital article: Volunteers

The students visited Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for a tour and a chance to interview hospital staff. Two groups of students wrote stories, and Darius Smith took photos.

By Tiffany Eng, Nephertitti Gray and Bianca Moorman

Volunteers around the world have one goal: helping others and giving back to the community.

For three local volunteers who give their time to the Roanoke Carilion Memorial Hospital, supporting others in need comes first.

“You’re supposed to raise people’s spirits,” said volunteer Linda Wade, who moved to the Roanoke Valley in 1962.

The number one rule to volunteering is attitude, the volunteers said. Being friendly and providing comfort are what these volunteers do on a daily basis.


“On Thursday, they’re my patients,” said Ron Ayers. He has been volunteering every Thursday with Carilion for the past five years.

Ayers said he takes great comfort in knowing that he is able to give back to the community that gave him so much. These volunteers understand that the patients admitted into Carilion appreciate all that the volunteers do each day.

From delivering flowers to providing food and snacks, Carilion volunteers are there to support the patients in any way necessary.

For more than 240 days, Ayers has been greeting and escorting patients into and through the hospital. As a greeter and escort, he has met hundreds of people with their own stories and adventures, he said.

Elizabeth Chisholm, who had a previous career as a social worker, realized that being a constant giver in the community was only natural. Having worked with Meals on Wheels, Chisholm was familiar with delivering goods to the Carilion patients.

Each day that a volunteer contributes their time, the hospital provides them with a free meal. Some of the more mature volunteers appreciate seeing the younger generation give up their time to help out, they said.

Court article: Eng and Gray

These stories are from a writing assignment during the workshop. The students visited Roanoke Circuit Court and spoke with a judge and lawyers about an actual case. The students did not attend an on-the-record hearing.

By Tiffany Eng and Nephertitti Gray

It is 3 p.m. June 23 and confusion has set in the Roanoke City court.

There are two things missing: the defendant, Prince Darius-Aaron Daniels, and the public-appointed defender, Sarah Timmers.

Daniels, 19, is charged with possessing a firearm on school grounds, a felony. He was expected to plead guilty yesterday based on a prior agreement made by the defense and the prosecution, Commonwealth Attorney Jack Patterson said.

Judge Charles Dorsey, the judge presiding over the case, announced speculation of a misunderstanding between the date given to the defendant by his attorney and the actual date of the case.

Daniels was set to graduate from high school in the spring. Patterson, a prosecutor, is unsure whether Daniels has graduated.

When asked if this type of situation happened often, Dorsey replied that it was an oddity that the court was missing both the defense attorney and defendant.

The new court day is rescheduled for June 28 at 3 p.m.

Court article: Pannell

These stories are from a writing assignment during the workshop. The students visited Roanoke Circuit Court and spoke with a judge and lawyers about an actual case. The students did not attend an on-the-record hearing.

By Jamaica Pannell

The date is June 23. It is 3 o’ clock in the afternoon, but where are the client and his attorney? Roanoke Circuit Court Judge Charles Dorsey waited for information of the mishap.

Sarah Timmers, the client’s attorney, had given Prince Darius-Aaron Daniels, the defendant, the wrong date. She scheduled him for a June 28 hearing.

The Dorsey said that it does not happen often, though he too at times has been late or confused.

The judge has decided not to issue a warrant for the defendant’s arrest because it was his attorney’s mistake, Dorsey said.

Daniels was charged of withholding a firearm at William Fleming on Jan. 8.

The incident began when a school resource officer filed a complaint saying that her son had been threatened by an unknown source. The only evidence to go by was a vehicle they were able to refer to.

Based on an inventory of the parking permit, school officials were able to locate the precise car. They then quickly identified its possessor, Daniels.

J. Bowdel, a resource officer at the school, notified the principal and searched the vehicle. Before the search, Daniels confirmed he had a weapon -- a 6-inch revolver -- in his automobile. Investigators also found marijuana.

Court article: Anderson and Moorman

These stories are from a writing assignment during the workshop. The students visited Roanoke Circuit Court and spoke with a judge and lawyers about an actual case. The students did not attend an on-the-record hearing.

By Shaniqua Anderson and Bianca Moorman

Prince Darius Aaron Daniels didn’t appear in court today, because his defense attorney Sarah Trimmers mixed up his court dates.

“It is very unusual for a defendant and a lawyer not to show up in court,” Judge Charles Dorsey said.

He is charged with a class 6 felony of possession of a firearm at school. Prince had been threatening a boy at William Fleming High School on Jan. 8. The alleged victim told his mother, and she contacted J.H. Bowdel, William Fleming’s resource officer, to file a complaint.

Bowdel was going to search his car, but before he could do that, Prince admitted he had a gun in his car and told him where it was. The officer found a gun and marijuana, which resulted in another charge, a misdemeanor.

Although this is his first offense, according to the plead agreement, Daniels would plead guilty.

Daniels’ rescheduled court date is on June 28 at 3 p.m.

Court article: Anderson and Liu

These stories are from a writing assignment during the workshop. The students visited Roanoke Circuit Court and spoke with a judge and lawyers about an actual case. The students did not attend an on-the-record hearing.

By AmberLynn Anderson and Victoria Liu

A 19-year-old who is suspected of bringing a firearm to William Fleming High School and his attorney did not show for a Roanoke Circuit Court plea hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Prince Darius-Aaron Daniels, then a senior at the school, told a resource officer on Jan. 8 that he had brought a gun to the school, said assistant commonwealth’s attorney James Patterson.

Daniels and his publicly appointed attorney, Sarah Timmers, did not show to court on Wednesday. But Judge Charles Dorsey did not issue an arrest warrant for Daniels after the Roanoke Public Defender’s Office informed him that Timmers had incorrect information on the hearing date.

On Jan. 8, Resource Officer Bowdel received a complaint from a parent, Melissa Mines, that her son was being threatened by another student, Patterson said. Police traced the description of the student’s vehicle to a parking permit belonging to Daniels, then a senior.

Before the car was searched, Daniels confessed to possessing a gun. Brittlebaugh, a hall principal, found a small blue Louis Vuitton bag behind the seat of his car with a 6-cylinder gun and a small amount of cannabis, according to a police warrant.

The defendant faces two to five years in jail or probation with no incarceration, Patterson said. The misdemeanor for drug possession may have been dropped if the defendant attended court, Patterson said.

Dorsey explained Wednesday that he may not preside if Daniels decides to enter a not-guilty plea because Patterson gave a summary of the facts in the case in Daniels’ absence.

The hearing was rescheduled for June 28.

Court article: Smith

These stories are from a writing assignment during the workshop. The students visited Roanoke Circuit Court and spoke with a judge and lawyers about an actual case. The students did not attend an on-the-record hearing.

By Darius Smith

A student who brought a firearm to William Fleming High School in January did not show for a plea hearing in Roanoke Circuit Court on Wednesday.

Prince Darius-Aaron Daniels, 19, was arrested on Jan. 8 after a woman, Melissa Mines, complained to Student Resource Officer J.H. Bowdel about a threat to her son.

Mines did not initially know who was threatening her son, according to a warrant filed in the court. Mines did know the suspect was driving a 1995 Buick Skylark, the search warrant said. It is unclear how Daniels was identified.

Daniels told an assistant principal, William Birdlebough, that he had a six-cylinder pistol found in a Louis Vuitton handbag, said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Jack Patterson on Wednesday. Daniels was then arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on school property.

A grand jury indicted Daniels on these charges, court documents said. The defense and the prosecution reached a guilty plea agreement in exchange for either a fine or a lowered jail time, court documents said.

Daniels and his attorney Sarah Timmers, a public defender, were absent. Two officials from the Roanoke Public Defender’s Office told Judge Charles N. Dorsey.

The hearing was rescheduled for 3 p.m. Monday, June 28.