FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS PREMIUM PUBLICATION EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Jeanette Barrett-Stokes jbstokes@usatoday.com
Freelance journalist Matt Alderton writes about business, science, technology, travel and culture — including gender politics, which he studied as a journalism student at Northwestern University and addresses again in “From Boys to Men” (page 74). “Boys and men are at a crossroads; to help them, I learned, we must replace expectations of conformity with expectations of character,” says Alderton, who lives in Chicago with his partner, Jeff, and their Boston terrier puppy, Lucy.
In reporting the feature on workplace readiness for teens, Mary Helen Berg discovered that programs such as those sponsored by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (page 40), strive to teach teens skills — like punctuality and teamwork — that they don’t always learn in the classroom but will need on the job. Her sidebar about taking a gap year (page 58) was inspired by her son, who funded his own post-high school break and then returned home to attend college. He graduated this spring.
MANAGING EDITOR Michelle Washington mjwashington@usatoday.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jerald Council jcouncil@usatoday.com ISSUE EDITOR Tracy Scott Forson EDITORS Amy Sinatra Ayres Harry Lister Sara Schwartz Debbie Williams ISSUE DESIGNER Amira Martin DESIGNERS Hayleigh Corkey Debra Moore Gina Toole Saunders Lisa M. Zilka CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Matt Alderton, John Bacon, Edward C. Baig, Mary Helen Berg, Emily Eileen Carter, Marissa Cass, Rosalind Cummings-Yeates, Valerie Finholm, Quinn Kelley, Zoe King, Jennifer Mabry, Jayne O’Donnell, Jorge L. Ortiz, Shameika Rhymes, Erin Richards, Kristen A. Schmitt, Laura Adams Stiansen, Adam Stone, Suzanne Wright
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6 BACK TO SCHOOL | FALL 2019
Jennifer Mabry has profiled many interesting people and places throughout her journalism career. In addition to USA TODAY, her work has appeared in AARP magazine, TV Guide and elsewhere. “I don’t have children, so reporting on the debate over homework (page 66) was a revelatory experience,” she says. “I was surprised to learn how passionate educators, parents and students are about this subject.”
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Shameika Rhymes is a former TV news producer turned entertainment, lifestyle and culture writer. In addition to USA TODAY, she has written for multiple digital outlets and publications including Entertainment Tonight, Ebony, Insider, Shondaland and Vanity Fair. In this issue, Rhymes discovered how much goes into a parent’s decision to leave their child home alone for the first time (page 72).