St. Mike’s student finds journalistic success: Article lands in major publication
Ada Jones ’27 holds up the feature article she wrote in class that was published in The Boston Globe Magazine in January 2025.
For many students, professional success comes only after years of applying oneself, personal growth and skill development, at times grit, and certainly after college graduation. Saint Michael’s College sophomore, Ada Jones ’27, however, recently flipped the norm and proved students can produce high-caliber professional work even early in their careers.
A news feature originally written for a class by Jones, a Digital Media and Communications major, published in the Boston Globe Magazine, a notable regional publication that can be difficult to break into even by seasoned journalists.
Jones’s example demonstrates hard work can pay off – literally (yes, she got paid) and figuratively. And, what started out as a first-year class assignment can rise to the level of exceptional professional work.
Tow-line to byline
When it came time to choose a topic for a feature article in her first-year Reporting for Media class, Jones stuck with her interests. A competitive skier – who is also on the Saint Michael’s College Alpine skiing team – she was interested in climate change’s effects on the ski industry and vice versa.
In particular, she set out to discover if snowmaking – which uses machines to supplement natural snowfall – is sustainable as the planet continues to warm and ski seasons get shorter and if the practice further harms the planet.
She interviewed climate scientists, ski tourism experts, and climate justice activists and she researched data on her own. She even learned snowmaking wasn’t as harmful as she anticipated. For the project she wrote a main story and a couple topic-focused sidebar pieces. She wove in a little of her personal story growing up skiing at Cochran’s in Richmond, VT, which is a small, family-run ski area.
During class, her drafts went through multiple rounds of edits with input from her peers and professor, Allison Cleary, to help focus and sharpen the content.
“It was a decent story, but Professor Cleary recommended that I reach out to Barbara-Ann Cochran to tie myself into it more, which definitely was the right move and made it a lot…closer to me and personalized,” Jones said, referencing one of the sibling co-owners of Cochran’s.
She took the editing seriously and ended up with a piece she was proud of. She completed the assignment but didn’t have an inclination that was just the beginning.
Ada Jones ’27 skiing for the Saint Michael’s College Alpine Ski Team.
Navigating the story pitch landscape
Cleary, who is a Digital Media Communications (DMC) professor and Director of the Writing Center, quickly recognized Jones’s final project could interest news outlets due to the topic choice, strength of writing and research. She suggested Jones pitch it to publications.
“My philosophy is any project that could feasibly go beyond the classroom, should,” Cleary said.
The two worked on query letters and researched publications and editors to contact.
The first pitch to Vermont Magazine was declined. Cleary suggested a regional publication like the Boston Globe. Jones first tried the news editor who suggested the Globe’s magazine. She didn’t hear anything for weeks and truly thought that was the end. About a month later she received the message: “Is this still available? I’m reading over stories for the January issue.”
Jones was shocked. The message came just before Christmas of her sophomore year. She would have a week of working on edits, but she was up for the challenge.
Finding the groove: Lessons from working with a professional editor
Once in the hands of an editor at the Boston Globe Magazine, the piece underwent more changes.
Digital Media & Communications Professor Allison Cleary (left) stands next to Ada Jones ’27 (right). The two are holding Jones’s story she wrote in Cleary’s class that was published in The Boston Globe Magazine in January 2025.
Ultimately, they wanted just the main piece – not the sidebars. There was a little reorganization and tightening of the writing.
They also redirected some of the story’s focus. Cochran’s was featured more prominently as an example of a small ski area defying the odds, and the editor asked Jones to go back to Barbara-Ann Cochran to get more quotes. Cochran’s parents founded the ski area, which she now owns with her three siblings, and she is also the 1971 Olympic gold medalist in women’s slalom. She’s seen more than 50 years of climate change impact on her business and sport.
For journalists both new and experienced, it can be difficult to have someone else take apart your work, but Jones took the edits in stride. Cleary helped Jones understand that was typical of the process, even for on-staff Globe writers. Jones contributed the additions and ultimately felt it was a stronger piece because of it.
“I think they definitely found the essence of it. I’m really happy with how it turned out,” Jones said. She was glad to see Cochran’s highlighted, which she considers a special place because of the community, and hopes readers connect with the importance of protecting small mountain skiing.
Picking up speed – what this means for the future
The online version of Jones’s story published on January 7, 2025, and the Boston Globe Magazine and Boston Sunday Globe print versions published on January 12. The publication even sent a box of printed issues to her family home in Williston, VT.
“It’s pretty exciting, it kind of feels surreal,” Jones said of the experience. She has received a lot of support from family, friends, the Vermont ski community and even in comments from readers. The byline bio noted she was a sophomore at Saint Michael’s College.
“A lot of my teammates were really supportive as well and they were hyping me up in the van the day it got published and reading through the comments,” she said. “It was pretty funny.”
Coming into college, Jones wasn’t set on her career path – she was interested in non-fiction writing and also had a passion for graphic design and illustration. In addition to her DMC major, she has an Environmental Studies minor and is considering another in Art & Design.
This experience has shown her there are opportunities to do what she enjoys.
“It was cool to learn that what I want to do is actually possible,” she said. “And, I’m glad that I jumped on all the opportunities that presented themselves.”
That kind of tenacity is an important trait for journalists, Cleary said, but can be difficult for students to find.
“That’s not easy to do. You’re putting your foot in the professional world that you have just been starting to taste,” she said. “I was really impressed with her – the persistence, the belief that this could be published. Because I know that to be true, but a lot of students don’t know that. They don’t believe it at that point.”
Ada Jones ’27 pictured with her news feature article that published in The Boston Globe Magazine in January 2025.
It is also rare for college students to be treated as professionals and paid like one. In Jones’s case, the agreed-upon compensation was sizable, commensurate with any freelance journalist.
She even attracted the attention of other outlets.
“The New York Times travel editor also reached out to me…She said a lot of people in her section are freelancers and if I ever had any story ideas I could reach out to her as well,” Jones said. She added, “That was also insane.”
Jones credits Cleary with providing guidance and letting her know what was possible, but Cleary says that Jones had the drive from the beginning. Clearly, they both benefited from a supportive and collegial professor-student relationship, which fostered great work.
“We work with so many bright students, and it’s so fun to watch them take the learning that’s happening in the classroom and run with it – or in Ada’s case – ski with it,” said Cleary with a smile. “And, to see it reach a larger audience – wow, how gratifying is that> Just amazing.”
As for Jones, the budding journalist will be working on getting published next in The Defender, Saint Michael’s College’s student-written newspaper, which she will be working on in a pop-up class this semester.
But, she’s certainly got an excellent start on her resume.
Related News See more news
