For Tyler Dixon, the journey back home has been both personal and professional. A native of Mounds, Dixon grew up within a mile of Meridian Elementary before leaving after sixth grade. Now in his second year as a high school English teacher at Meridian, he has added junior high and high school publications classes to his schedule. For him, this new role is more than an assignment—it is a way to connect his past career as a journalist with his present passion for teaching.

“I love being from Mounds,” Dixon said. “If I can take some kids and teach them some things and they change people’s perspective, that’s awesome. That’s phenomenal for me.”

Before entering education, Dixon earned his undergraduate degree in journalism at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, then completed graduate studies at Murray State. He went on to work as a sports editor in Kentucky, first in Hopkinsville and later in Owensboro, before returning to teach at Notre Dame in Cape Girardeau. He also worked in athletics at SIU and continues to teach speech for Shawnee College. The wide-ranging experiences in journalism and communications gave him the tools he now shares with students at Meridian.

This year, Dixon teaches all four levels of high school English in the mornings and publications in the afternoons. His publications classes, offered as electives, are designed to be hands-on and engaging. “These aren’t core required classes,” he said. “We’re supposed to have fun in here. We’re supposed to talk about fun things and do fun things.”

Part of his approach involves showing students the relevance of journalism in everyday life. Many of his junior high students are seventh and eighth graders who may only know newspapers from their grandparents’ kitchen tables. To bridge the gap, Dixon connects their learning to experiences they already care about. “I have a couple of softball players that play junior high softball,” he explained. “So I asked, how did the game go? What went well? What didn’t? I try to use their lives to teach it.”

In both junior high and high school publications, Dixon sets ambitious goals. Each semester, junior high students are tasked with creating the front page of a newspaper. They must write three stories, take photos, and design the page. High school students complete a similar project but must also tell their story through another medium, such as a podcast, photo essay, or video. The aim is to teach flexibility and creativity while exposing students to the many forms modern storytelling can take.

“This is the best time and the worst time to be a journalist,” Dixon said. “Anybody can do it. But I also want them to understand that publications doesn’t just mean a newspaper. It can be social media, podcasts, or other platforms.”

Students have the benefit of tools that were not available when Dixon first entered the field. He integrates Canva into his daily teaching, using it to create visual prompts and assignments, and encourages students to use new cameras and video equipment the school has acquired. The goal, he said, is not just to develop technical skills but to build awareness of how and why messages are created.

“We’ve talked about why logos look the way they do or why companies use certain colors,” he said. “It’s fun to see the clicks—when students realize that design choices have meaning, or when they recognize that nothing in media is there by accident.”

In addition to his English and publications courses, Dixon is also responsible for guiding Meridian’s yearbook class. For him, the yearbook is more than a collection of photos and pages—it is a record of student voices and memories that will be treasured for decades. He sees it as both a creative outlet and a serious responsibility. “When you’re creating a yearbook, you’re telling the story of that year,” he explained. “It’s not just about the big events, but about capturing the everyday moments that matter to students.”

Dixon’s goals extend beyond teaching skills. He wants students to take pride in their school and their community by telling their own stories. “We’re in a very rural area,” he explained. “Not a lot of people outside of here have a vested interest. That’s why I want my classes to tell the story of Meridian. If we don’t, no one else will.”

That message resonates with students who sometimes feel overlooked. “The biggest thing here is to let them know that you care,” he said. “Because people leave them a lot. And if you show them you care, that you’re invested not only in where they’re going but where they’ve been, that makes all the difference.”