SKYLAR RISPENS
Montana-based journalist
I am currently working as a staff reporter for StateScoop and EdScoop with Scoop News Group, covering the intersection of technology with state and local governments and higher education systems.
I am also available for freelance opportunities to report on stories in the Last Best Place. Please inquire via email for more information.
Education Writers Association Fellowship
I completed a reporting fellowship through the EWA on what works—and what doesn't—when it comes to four-day school weeks in Montana. My two-part reporting project was published by the Montana Free Press in December 2023.
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My reporting was featured by Montana Public Radio and the Montana Television Network.
Montana schools address teacher shortage by adopting four-day weeks to better recruit and retain teachers
(click the photo to view the article)
Changes to four-day school week prompt childcare, hunger concerns
(click the photo to view the article)
MISSOULIAN
I covered education news for nearly two years at the Missoulian newspaper ranging from diapers to diplomas and through statewide education policy, including the Montana Board of Regents, Board of Public Education and Office of Public Instruction. Missoula is home to a K-12 school district with about 10,000 students, multiple private school districts, one of the state’s flagship universities and a community college.
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I won "Best Education Coverage" in the 2022 Better Newspaper Contest by the Montana Newspaper Association for my reporting on local groups organizing against mask policies.
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I was unfortunately laid off from my position at the Missoulian due to budget cuts in April 2023.
MASK-OPTIONAL POLICIES DRIVE SOME FAMILIES IN MONTANA TO HOME-SCHOOL (TWO PART SERIES)
Many Montana schools this fall returned to in-person instruction five days a week and loosened mitigation efforts, including the use of masks — despite the spike in cases and the emergence of the more contagious delta variant.
Others completely did away with alternative methods of instruction like remote learning.
For some families, the lack of both a masking requirement and online education left them with no other option than to home-school.
'LIFE OF THE MIND': MATH STUDENT GRADUATES WITH DOCTORATE FROM UM
One of my favorite parts of working in local journalism is introducing the community to remarkable people through feature articles. One of those people I met last year was Jack Finlay, who was diagnosed with ALS 12 years ago and graduated with a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Montana last spring.
MISSOULA CATHOLIC SCHOOLS (THREE PART SERIES)
Though most of my coverage at the Missoulian focuses on public education, one of the most read stories at the paper in 2022 was from this series about the fallout after two staff members with Missoula Catholic Schools were unexpectedly placed on leave just before holiday break.
HOW TO BUILD A TEACHER (TWO PART SERIES)
In this series I examined decadeslong teacher and staff shortages at schools across the state. For these two stories I zeroed my focus on the innovative ways collegiate teacher preparation programs and local district leaders shifted their approaches to combat shortages. I was interviewed by Montana Public Radio about this work.
MISSOULA COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS FEELS NATIONAL PINCH IN SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH
This year, the local K-12 public school district I cover for the Missoulian was searching for a new leader. After hiring a national consulting firm, whose first attempt at a search came up short, the board opted to reopen the search. Some suspect the hiring challenges had to do with local issues, such as a high cost of living, but what Missoula experienced could have been more influenced by national trends.
ARNTZEN'S STATEWIDE SCHOOL TOUR FRAUGHT WITH STRIFE
Community forums hosted throughout the state by Montana’s top education official over the last four months left many people with more questions than answers.
Concerns over teacher pay, school funding formulas, special education, charter schools and proposed obscenity laws dominated the gatherings. Participants also wondered why many of the meetings were set during mid-day, when few school officials, teachers or parents could attend.
GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE
I worked as a breaking news and education reporter covering everything under the sun for the Great Falls Tribune from August 2019 to May 2021. The Tribune is a mid-sized daily newspaper in Great Falls, Mont. that covers northcentral Montana. I have had the opportunity to collaborate with other local education reporters around the country and national reporters with the USA TODAY network for various reporting projects.
GFPS TO CLOSE FOR TWO-WEEKS DUE TO COVID-19 CASES, 'ASTRONOMICAL' QUARANTINE RATES
November 2020
'THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT': MONTANA COLLEGES PREPARE FOR UNCERTAINTY OF FALL TERM
May 2020
MONTANA'S POLITICAL LEADERS SPLIT ON BIDEN'S PROJECTED VICTORY OVER TRUMP
November 2020
'THESE KIDS ARE COMING BACK': REOPENED MONTANA SCHOOL OFFERS PEEK AT WHAT FALL MIGHT BRING (FOR USA TODAY)
May 2020
CARES ACT RULE DILEMMA CONTINUES, OPI WILL NOT RECOUP INFLATED FUNDS TO NON-PUBLIC EDUCATION
October 2020
THE CRUEL LINK BETWEEN ALZHEIMER'S AND THOSE WITH DOWN SYNDROME
October 2019
PHOTOGRAPHY
Collection of photographs taken while on assignment for various publications.
Click on the images to view image descriptions.
SEELEY SWAN PATHFINDER
Prior to my time at the Tribune, I spent the summer based in Seeley Lake, Mont. working for the Seeley Swan Pathfinder, a community weekly newspaper that serves the Swan and Blackfoot valleys. Working in a small newsroom and covering unique communities in the valleys allowed me to try my hand at a variety of beats while also taking my own photos right after graduation.
The following is a collection of my reporting for the Pathfinder that earned first place for best continuing news coverage for a Division 1 newspaper in the 2020 Montana Newspaper Association's Better Newspaper Contest.
THE MONTANA STANDARD
Between my junior and senior years of college in the summer of 2018 I worked as a reporting intern at The Montana Standard in Butte, Mont. where I practiced my reporting abilities at a local, mid-sized, daily news outlet.
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
My education at the University of Montana School of Journalism shaped me into a competent and energetic reporter and photographer. While in undergrad, I completed four capstone journalism projects in both reporting and editorial capacities. In addition to print reporting and photojournalism training, I also studied media law and journalism ethics.
During my senior year I oversaw the visual and multimedia production as the photo editor for both Byline Magazine in the fall and Native News 2019 in the spring. In the spring of 2018 I worked as a multimedia producer for Native News 2018. In May 2018 I traveled to South Korea with Montana Journalism Abroad as a photographer and web content editor.
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