Former journalist Angie Larson brings 28 years of teaching experience to East Marshall
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LE GRAND -- This school year, Angie Larson will step into the role of 7th and 12th grade English teacher and K-12 ELL instructor in the East Marshall school district. Previously, she taught at GMG, wearing several hats teaching English, journalism, debate and leading the high school's newspaper.
"I will miss my GMG students and faculty/staff," she said.
A native of Strawberry Point, her family relocated to Omaha her junior year in high school.
"I went from a class of like 55 kids to a graduating class of 650," she noted.
She then enrolled at the University of Nebraska-Omaha with the notion of majoring in communications.
"I decided to take a reporting class and our professor was the environmental writer for the Omaha World Herald," she recalled. "One of the first nights -- it was a night class -- he said, 'Is anybody in here interested in becoming a copy messenger for the Omaha World Herald?'"
The year was 1988, and Larson found herself raising her hand.
"I applied for the job, interviewed, was turned down. They gave it to a young man that they interviewed. He didn't show up for work, so I got the job," she said.
The role entailed answering phones and locating materials in the newspaper's archives. Eight months later, she transferred to the night shift at the city desk writing obituaries, working 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
"I was just kind of working my way up, and after about a year and a half, there was an opening in sports. I applied for that and interviewed, and they hired me, and I was one of two women in the sports department and 25 gentlemen," Larson said.
She got her Bachelor of Science degree in journalism/public relations and stayed on at the paper a few more years before returning to Iowa. She then took a job at a newspaper in Waverly. A year later, she moved to the Monticello Express as sports editor, beating out 14 men for the job. She also worked briefly for the Lincoln Journal Star.
"This was in 1993. Not a lot of women were covering sports back then," she noted.
After about 10 years working in journalism, she switched careers.
"I spent so much time at the high schools, at sporting events, school activities, with teachers and coaches and students, that I just decided that I wanted to teach English," she said.
She relocated to Cedar Falls and spent a year and a half earning a Bachelor of Arts in English Education from UNI.
She got her first teaching job in Wyoming, Iowa at Midland High School. She taught English there for 11 years. In 2009, her father-in-law passed away and her husband Gary retired from the USDA. They moved back to his family's farm near Casey to take care of the crops and cattle.
Larson got a split teaching job in the Adair-Casey and Guthrie Center school districts (which have since combined).
"I got hired to teach in both districts each day and I taught 7-12," she said. "My first year they hired me to do the ELL work, so I spent a year doing English Language Learner work, which was K-12...I am currently working on earning an ELL endorsement from UNI."
She left AC/GC to work at CAM High School in Anita, teaching English. She was there for about three or four years. Then her father, who was residing in Monticello, got sick, prompting the family to relocate again.
"Two of my four step kids lived right outside of Cedar Rapids, we had grandkids, and we were just so far away from everybody, so we decided to move back over here to eastern Iowa (Tama), and I worked at Green Mountain for four years and that brings me to East Marshall," she said.
She hopes to start a journalism club and newspaper at East Marshall and looks forward to getting to know the students.
Her family includes stepdaughters, twins Lindsay and Jennifer, and stepsons Jon and Travis. She and Gary, who have been together for 31 years, have nine grandchildren.
She may be reached at: alarson@e-marshall.k12.ia.us.