Six years ago, Herndon High School tapped English teacher Dawn Stuvland Crosson to teach a journalism class. She stepped up and took the job to heart. Having been a journalist herself at Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho, she had a heart to inspire the next generation of writers.
Reviving Student Journalism
“Their journalism class had dwindled away. They didn’t even have enough [students] for a class,” Stuvland Crosson recalls. The married mom of three recruited several students for that first class, which had a total of seven fledgling journalism students. Over the next four years, she grew the class, and it eventually had to be capped at 30 students.
And the class eventually produced a 12-page monthly Herndon Stinger newspaper with a circulation of around 500. “It was just this tangible product that the whole class would work on,” she says. “Everybody brought their own skills to the table, and we all learned from each other.”
Along the way, Stuvland Crosson encouraged her students to lean into their gifts.
“Dawn was actually my journalism teacher my junior year of high school,” says Emdad Swapan, a third-year student at Richmond’s Virginia Commonwealth University. “She inspired me to be creative when I was a high school student. And I put that creativity to pretty good use.”
Swapan is pursuing a career in social media management, something he does as a side project alongside his former teacher. Turns out, a thriving Herndon High journalism class was only the beginning for Stuvland Crosson. A Reston resident for 18 years, she realized there was a lapse in local reporting in her community, which gave her the idea to start her own newspaper.
‘The Reston Letter’
And so from those humble beginnings, The Reston Letter was created. The free, local, monthly printed newspaper is mailed to more than 23,000 Reston residents.
“Just being at the school and having the experience I had gave me a ton of confidence,” she says. “There was no competition and not really any overhead — it was out of my basement.”
The newspaper is a return to small-town, grass roots news. It features stories about little league teams, school plays, and generally positive information. Stuvland Crosson recruited Swapan to head social media for The Reston Letter, and other Herndon High alumni have also joined in the effort.
“Everybody loves Dawn, and she is just someone that you want to rally behind,” says Herndon High graduate and local realtor Casey Menish, who helps and advertises with the publication. “I was happy to do anything she needed my help with, and happy to advertise. You can really see the passion that she has both for the newspaper and for Reston in general.”
Stuvland Crosson breathed life into The Reston Letter during the summer of 2022, when she rounded up a staff, volunteer writers, a printer, and advertisers. The first issue printed in January 2023, and the 16-page publication continues to grow.
“I think it gets people really engaged in the community,” Stuvland Crosson says. “I’ve gotten great feedback.”
Locals involved in the endeavor believe Reston has a myriad of great aspects to share with its neighbors.
“Why can’t we be the ‘good news’ organization?” says Swapan. “Where instead of highlighting what’s happening in the stock market, we’re highlighting what our neighbor’s child did in their sport … just anything positive.”
Feature image courtesy Dawn Stuvland Crosson
