Jane Hammond

Journalist

Hampton Roads, Va.

Education reporter at the Daily Press in Newport News, Va. Recent graduate of Mercer University's Center for Collaborative Journalism in Macon, Ga.

Jane Hammond

Journalist

Hampton Roads, Va.

Education reporter at the Daily Press in Newport News, Va. Recent graduate of Mercer University's Center for Collaborative Journalism in Macon, Ga.

Salary a piece of the puzzle for where Peninsula teachers want to be
Teachers thinking about working in the Peninsula area might want to take a look at York County. The York County School Division pays its teachers, on average, the best out of all eight local school divisions, according to a study released in December. There's a fourth category in the study, maximum salary regardless of experience.
Daily Press
School-owned WHRO benefits Hampton Roads students, teachers
WHRO's educational influence on Peninsula area children doesn't end with reruns of Sesame Street. The Norfolk-based public media station is co-owned by 19 school divisions in the greater Hampton Roads area — an ownership model WHRO says is the only one of its kind in the country. In return, students in those divisions — which include Gloucester, Hampton, Isle of Wight, Mathews, Newport News, Poquoson, Williamsburg-James City County and York — reap the benefits of having access to WHRO's educational resources.
Daily Press
School board members' compensation corresponds with enrollment, locality size
Members of school boards on and around the Peninsula take home salaries that roughly correspond with the number of students they serve. Pay ranges from the $420 Poquoson School Board members receive – that's $35 a meeting – to the $17,000 Newport News School Board Chairman Jeff Stodghill collects each year.
Daily Press
Newport News private school earns Blue Ribbon thanks to 'International' curriculum
Laura Madler scrolled down her computer screen, editing her "Vampire Cruise" travel brochure. The Trinity Lutheran School eighth-grader is studying bodies of water in her social studies class, which led to her "Black Sea cruises for the Dead at Heart" taglined project. It helps that images of the globe are everywhere in the International Baccalaureate World School, from rugs in the library to bulletin boards in classrooms.
Daily Press
An Achievable Dream's work continues
The vision remains unchanged at An Achievable Dream Academy since the death of founder Walter Segaloff in August 2013. Students still get their uniforms checked by soldiers from Fort Eustis, recite banners that say things such as "I can go to college if I work hard" and are given a handshake and a smile from teachers and staff when they arrive in the morning.
Daily Press
Funding cuts led to 11,000-plus staff 'missing' from Va. schools, report says
Schools on the Peninsula face the same problem as seen in a new state study — a dwindling teacher and support staff caused by recession-driven funding cuts. Funding cuts since the recession have led to Virginia's public schools "missing" more than 11,000 staffers, according to a report released Tuesday by The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Policy.
Daily Press
Three Newport News schools denied accreditation; several schools awaiting state decision
Three Newport News public schools — two elementary schools and one middle school — were denied accreditation Tuesday by the Virginia Department of Education. That means that of 13 schools statewide that failed to win accreditation — of 1,823 public schools in Virginia — nearly a quarter were in Newport News.
Daily Press
W&M announces $1 billion fundraising campaign
The College of William and Mary announced an ambitious fundraising campaign Thursday night — a $1 billion goal called "For the Bold." According to W&M officials, the goal is the largest announced campaign of a public university of its size and the biggest of any institution without schools of medicine or engineering and with fewer than 100,000 alumni.
Daily Press
Students build tabletop roller coasters with help of Busch Gardens
Fourth- and fifth-graders from 23 Newport News elementary schools built roller coasters Friday with the help of an expert: Busch Gardens. Teams of students constructed ramps for marbles to travel down, using materials such as cardboard and tin foil. Designs were scored based on loops, tunnels, slope and time the "passenger" traveled on the "coaster."
Daily Press
Peninsula schools welcome students for first day back to classes
Elijah Pope handled the first day of kindergarten better than his parents. The 5-year-old sat attentively in his new classroom at Machen Elementary in Hampton while Wilka and James Pope lingered in the doorway with other parents. "We're just trying to make sure that he's comfortable and he doesn't feel a lack of confidence or get the butterflies," James Pope said.
Daily Press
Macon-Bibb among deadliest counties in Georgia for pedestrians
The number of people who are hit and killed by vehicles while walking in Macon-Bibb County surprised Lisa Dawson. The director of the Georgia Department of Public Health’s Injury Prevention Program looked at the county-ranked data from 2008-2012, the most recent information available, and saw something she called “concerning.”.
The Telegraph
Gambling expert talks coin-operated amusement machines
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sims’ hard work pays off with state title
Lauren Sims calmly braced herself at the Morgan County Aquatic Center on Jan. 31. Feeling intense determination, the Covenant junior prepared to dive into the water and prove herself at the GICAA swimming championship. She did just that as she raced to her best finishes of her career. She claimed the girls 100-yard butterfly and helped win the medley relay team, freestyle relay team and overall state champion team titles for Covenant.
The Telegraph
Hard work pays off for Howard’s Slaughter
Danny Slaughter whirled the mower across the infield of Husky Field, motor humming as he tended to his grounds a few days before the regular season began. The Howard baseball head coach spends a lot of his time on the field, a place he calls symbolic of the success of his teams through the years. Slaughter is about to begin his seventh season as the head coach of the Huskies, the first six of which his team reached the GHSA playoffs.
The Telegraph
Jones County’s Finney wins state wrestling title
Torrez Finney might be undersized on the football field at his position of defensive tackle, but he fit right in on the wrestling mat at the 195-pound GHSA Class AAAAA championship. The junior defeated Aaron Galegor of Camden 10-8 in overtime Saturday at the Macon Coliseum, capturing Jones County’s first individual title since 2002.
The Telegraph
Evans steps up to lead Central
Andre Taylor’s team needed a leader Thursday afternoon, and Derrick Evans was happy to step up for his head coach. The Central point guard scored 29 points, including 17 in the third quarter, to lead the Chargers to a 79-62 win over Peach County in the GHSA Region 2-AAA semifinals. “We’ve made it to the region championship for the second year in a row,” Evans said.
The Telegraph

About

Jane Hammond

I'm an education reporter covering Newport News Public Schools and Hampton University at the Daily Press in Newport News, Va.

I'm a recent graduate of the Center for Collaborative Journalism at Mercer University. I freelanced at The Telegraph during my last two years in school, covering high school basketball, football, soccer and other topics.

I spent summer 2015 as an investigative reporting intern at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, helping the team with ongoing investigations while closing out work I did with the Georgia News Lab in the spring.

I interned with iHeartMedia, Inc. in fall 2014, co-hosting the two-hour Mercer Tailgate Show on local sports radio station. I also interned at AL.com and The Huntsville Times in summer 2014, where I covered local sports and headed AL.com’s World Cup coverage, utilizing SEO-friendly techniques on posts that helped Huntsville hub reach traffic goals by 103 percent. In fall 2013 I interned with Georgia Public Broadcasting, having GPB's first sports-only beat of Mercer's first football team in 72 years.

I worked for Vox Media from July 2013-May 2015, where I managed SB Nation blog TalkingChop.com and served as the copy and news editor of PeachtreeHoops.com.