SOMETIMES people are not who they say they are. In the Snap Judgment podcast episode The Sleuthers-School Daze, Shaina Shealy explored a case that took place in Pittsburgh, Kansas, in 2017.

It started in a journalism class at Pittsburgh High School, where student reporters began writing about their new principal and her background and credentials.

This case began when student editor Gina Mathew interviewed the school’s incoming principal, Dr. Amy Robertson, and found that the graduate school their new principal attended was unfamiliar. The student reporters began questioning and conducting their own research and found that the school Dr. Robertson said she attended was shut down in 1986.

Even more surprising, when researching other schools Dr. Robertson had mentioned, the phrase ‘diploma mill’ came up. When the students asked Dr. Robertson more about it, she immediately became defensive and told them that the superintendent would have final say on what could be in the school newspaper.

After this, they told the journalism teacher, Ms. Smith, who contacted the superintendent to make sure everything the students were doing was OK, but she was told not to worry. The students then held another interview with the new principal and superintendent, but instead of getting their questions answered, they left wanting more answers.

The students ended up calling the Kansas Department of Education to make sure that Dr. Robertson was qualified, and it wasn’t just paranoia. The Kansas Department of Education told them, “We would not acknowledge any of her credentials, and she is not eligible for a Kansas principal license.”

Just before spring break started, the students got together and decided to publish their article about this principal conspiracy. At first, nothing happened; they felt their efforts had been for nothing, but a couple of days later, news broke that Ms. Robertson had resigned. The students received tons of attention from around the nation and were praised for their hard investigative work. The school also changed how it hired its staff, making the process more thorough to avoid repeating the same mistake.

Working together, these students stopped an imposter from taking authority in their school. Even during difficult times when their own parents and teachers told them to mind their own business, they felt this was important and could not be ignored. Ms. Robertson was faking her degree and personal history, yet these students were still looked down on for what they did because someone lost their job.

This case only shows how vital journalism really is. Through journalism, reporters can find the truth even when higher authorities attempt to keep people uninformed. Just because they’re teenagers doesn’t mean they’re not capable of being correct. Together, student reporters can uncover things that adults would otherwise ignore. Scan the QR to listen to it.

Listen here: https://snapjudgment.org/episode/school-daze-the-sleuthers/