Resume

Charlene Oldham

Charlene.Oldham@gmail.com

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Seasoned writer with full-time and freelance experience at some of the nation’s most respected publications
  • Dedicated educator with more than a decade of secondary and post-secondary teaching experience
  • Proven public relations representative with experience booking events as well as generating media attention
  • Graduate of the nation’s top-ranked school of journalism

 SKILLS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Freelance Reporting and Public Relations

  • Reported and wrote stories for newspapers including The New York Times and Newsday as well as magazines including SUCCESS and Eating Well
  • Created and compiled photos, press releases, performance samples, and web-based materials for independent musical artists
  • Facilitated radio, television, and print interviews for artists
  • Generated stories or airplay at media outlets including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis’s 88.1-KDHX, and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle
  • Helped book entertainment and generate press for large-scale events including Farm Aid 2009 and Bozeman’s Music on Main

Staff Writing

  • Covered a variety of business-related beats including energy, workplace issues, transportation, tourism and conventions, and agriculture at daily newspapers around the country
  • Covered Enron Corp.’s collapse and electricity market deregulation in Texas
  • Contributed book and restaurant reviews as a freelance writer
  • Graduated from the nation’s top-ranked graduate school of journalism

Teaching

  • Teach college undergraduate seminar and writing courses and adult education
  • Certified eMINTS teacher proficient in SmartBoard usage, website and WebQuest design, blogging, and other classroom technology
  • Taught sixth through eighth grade Balanced Literacy curriculum
  • Tutored small groups during and after school to improve specific reading skills
  • Used Excel and other programs to collect and analyze behavioral data for the Positive Behavior Intervention Support Team at a PBIS award-winning middle school
  • Sponsored yearbook and newspaper
  • Nominated for Teacher of the Year in the 2010 school year
  • Taught a variety of high school English and remedial reading courses as a general and special educator
  • Certified in high school and middle school English and Journalism and eligible for a K-12 Reading Specialist Certificate

EXPERIENCE:

2016- present Regional Contributor, Crain Communications                             Saint Louis, MO

2011-2016   Adjunct Professor, Lindenwood University                                   Saint Charles, MO

2006-2011       Teacher, Hancock Place Middle School                                                      Lemay, MO

2002-2006       Teacher, Vashon High School                                                    Saint Louis, MO

2000-2002       Staff Writer, The Dallas Morning News                                                    Dallas, TX

1999-2000       Staff Writer, Orlando Sentinel                                                                         Orlando, FL

1998-1999       Staff Writer, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette                                            Little Rock, AR

 EDUCATION AND TRAINING:

2005                            Lindenwood University                         St. Charles, MO

MA in Teaching

  • Earned a 4.0 GPA while working full time as a teacher in St. Louis Public Schools

2002-2004                       Teach For America                                   St. Louis, MO

Corps Member

  • Completed an intensive summer training program focused on classroom management and culture, instructional planning, and delivery
  • Implemented training while teaching summer school courses to elementary school students in Houston public schools
  • Received two years of professional development and support from this prestigious and innovative non-profit that has placed corps members as teachers in under-resourced rural and urban schools for 25 years

1997                                       Columbia University                                 New York, NY

MS in Journalism

  • Received a master’s degree after completing a fast-paced program in New York City that included hands-on urban reporting experience
  • Selected for a competitive internship program at Newsday

1996                            Arkansas State University                           Jonesboro, AR

BS in Journalism

  • Served as editor-in-chief of the nationally recognized student newspaper
  • Graduated cum laude
  • Selected as a Distinguished Service Award winner