In my short experience here as an intern with the Press and Guide I have spent a lot of time driving the Dearborn and Dearborn Heights communities and talking to residents for content. Although I've lived in Dearborn Heights since birth, I have never felt as connected to the city itself and the hustle and bustle of it's population as I do when I'm out gathering news.

Throughout this internship I have driven down roads and visited businesses I would have never stepped foot inside of if I didn't need to be there for a story. It has led me to feel both relevant to the people that read the Press and Guide, and appreciative for the unique community that Dearborn and Dearborn Heights is.

Any local newspaper serves a very important purpose to the people of its community, and I have been honored to be a part of the Press and Guide's staff.

Visit to Kids-TALK Advocacy Center

Last week, I went to the Kids-Talk Advocacy Center located in Detroit.

The Kids-TALK Advocacy Center is part of the Youth Services offered by the Guidance Center, a non-profit agency in Southgate. The Center provides children ages 2-17 with counseling for sexual and emotional abuse as well as handling the forensic interviews that take place with abuse cases.

The director of Children Behavioral Health, Laura Huot, was clearly passionate about her work. She went out of her way to show me around the house that made up the center on Ferry St. She explained the entire process beginning with when the child walks in the front door. I was able to take pictures and see for myself what the waiting, conference and therapy rooms looked like.

I’m glad I went there instead of just talking to the director over the phone. It’s easier to understand something you have seen. And you can’t write properly on a subject you don’t understand. Having seen the center and given a thorough tour, I felt fully informed and believe I wrote a better story.

Don't be fooled by the professional facade that our writers put up when they are covering a story or interviewing an official.

The newsroom here at the News Herald bears a striking resemblance to an elemetary playground. All of the cliche representatives are present and play their parts to the letter.

Rene Cizio- The older kid, usually old enough to be in sixth grade but held back in fifth, who picks on the younger kids and steals their milk money. She puts on a smile for appearances but don't turn your back on her, lest you be hit with a dirt clod in the back of the head. After the first smile, you won't see another one until she's making you eat mud while she guzzles the chocolate milk that you paid for.

Dave Herndon - The mean kid's lackey who may or may not actually be nice. When the dairy fiend is around, her lackey is all cracks and criticisms, but when she's not he is almost pleasant. It could just be another masquerade to lure me into a false sense of security. Then he could tell Rene more about me and tell her that I hide the majority of my milk money in my shirt sleeve rolls.

Alan Burdziak - Dear, sweet, simple Alan. Alan is the one that plays tetherball by himself every recess. He doesn't need real people to be his friends, the ones he makes up are so much more accepting. They don't care that he wears a cape or that he thinks paste is one of the major food groups. Didn't get picked for either kickball team? That's fine. He didn't want to play anyway. He'd rather go swing by himself and see how long he can hang upside down from the jungle gym until he passes out.

Alan

Jackie Harrison-Martin - The nice girl who is friends with everyone and laughs the day away. She even says that you're one of her favorites. But then the job shadow comes in, and she buys him pizza. You never got pizza on your first day.

Dennis Hinzmann - Me. The victim. The sweet child who is a breath of fresh air in the newsroom. I have a fresh take on the news media, and pop culture references. I'm like the new kindergarten student, not the one who cries on his first day separated from his parents, at least, not after nap time. I'm learning the ropes and the hierarchy of the establishment and getting the hang of things. But sabotage lurks at every desk. Keep your friends close, and your crayon box closer.

References to real people in this blog are intentional but behaviors displayed by them may be exaggerated or completely fabricated. Satire in its simplest form: making fun of people.

During the election last week, I went with reporter Alan Burdziak to voting precincts in Southgate and Lincoln Park.

We went for video that would go with election stories on the web. We were looking for feedback of how people were voting and why. The precincts weren’t busy but enough voters were coming in and out to collect opinions.

What was most interesting about the experience was how people became more hesitant and less willing to talk with us when we pulled the camera out. While some voters didn’t want to speak at all, plenty seemed willing to answer quick questions. But only two people wanted to be on camera. One woman said she wasn’t eloquent enough. Even after we explained it was just for the website and they wouldn’t be on TV, most still weren’t interested.

In this case, it was harder to collect information with a camera. I think more people would have spoken with us if we had been without it.

This week I went to a legislative forum at Crystal Gardens in Southgate for the News Herald. I like to observe people and places so going to an event for the first time is always fun. You don’t know what to expect.

This event turned out to be a pleasant hour eating soup and salad while listening to state reps. speak on any issue they thought important. Any topic could be discussed from the new bridge to Canada proposal to making Downriver a tourist destination.

The group of Guidance Center employees I sat with were kind and funny. I learned some about the Guidance Center and also heard about their backgrounds, families and careers.

Al Sebastian, director of marketing and public relations was a print journalism major at Wayne State. His wife worked at the News Herald for three years before she had four children. Betty Priskorn, the vice executive of the Guidance Center, is a city councilmember in Riverview. Her son graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and now lives in San Francisco. We discussed employment in Michigan and the odds of finding a job in the area after college graduation.

And how nice it would be to live in San Francisco.

Before I left, Al Sebastian gave me a story idea concerning the Guidance Center and said he would help me work on it.

And as I was leaving, I realized my brother-in-law, a teacher at Ecorse Community High School, was there with some of his students.