During an otherwise great segment on Tuesday honoring the National Teacher of the Year, CBS Mornings tried and failed to have her — Mifflin County High School journalism teacher Ashlie Crosson in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania — bash President Trump for wanting to shutter the Department of Education and then condemn the country’s widespread distrust in the news media.
Co-host Nate Burleson’s last question was about what members of the public can do to support their local education system, but featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers and CBS Mornings Plus co-host Adriana Diaz has their own ideas.
Diaz had the question about matters in D.C.: “Miss Crosson, we want to get your thoughts on the President’s executive order dismantling the Department of Education. What do you think the impact will be on students and teachers?”
Crosson struck a unifying tone, first acknowledging “change and uncertainty going on with the national level of things” before emphasized what she can control: “[W]ithin our classes like our focus is always on our students and on meeting the needs of our community, and so I think a lot of that will stay our focus.”
Duthiers had the journalism question:
[W]e love...you are teaching journalism to young students. In this age where more and more Americans distrust journalism, they distrust the media, my first question is, do you find that kids are interested in pursuing this craft as a profession? And how do you juxtapose that with the feeling that perhaps some people in their communities may not be happy with what they see is representative of media today?
More so-called straight news reporters should pay attention to Crosson’s lessons: “[O]ur job is like, really, to make sure that they understand the fundamentals of journalism, the difference between reporting and an editorial. And how do you sort of, like, master those — those different parts of your craft, and then making sure that they’re working on their skills of professionalism, so that they know how to work through an interview, so that they know how to reach a source.”
“A lot of it is just like that groundwork, that fundamental so that they’re more comfortable with being a part of the news and a participant, but then also being a consumer of news,” she added.
To see the relevant CBS transcript from April 29, click “expand.”
CBS Mornings
April 29, 2025
8:14 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Only On; 2025 National Teacher of the Year; Winner Is Ashlie Crosson of Mifflin County High School in PA]
ADRIANA DIAZ: Miss Crosson, we want to get your thoughts on the President’s executive order dismantling the Department of Education. What do you think the impact will be on students and teachers?
ASHLIE CROSSON: I think that there’s a lot of you know, change and uncertainty going on with the national level of things, but within our classes like our focus is always on our students and on meeting the needs of our community, and so I think a lot of that will stay our focus.
VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: One of the things that, as Nate mentioned, we love is that you are teaching journalism to young students. In this age where more and more Americans distrust journalism, they distrust the media, my first question is, do you find that kids are interested in pursuing this craft as a profession? And how do you juxtapose that with the feeling that perhaps some people in their communities may not be happy with what they see is representative of media today?
CROSSON: Yes. So our job is like, really, to make sure that they understand the fundamentals of journalism, the difference between reporting and an editorial. And how do you sort of, like, master those — those different parts of your craft, and then making sure that they’re working on their skills of professionalism, so that they know how to work through an interview, so that they know how to reach a source and so, a lot of it is just like that groundwork, that fundamental so that they’re more comfortable with being a part of the news and a participant, but then also being a consumer of news.
DUTHIERS: You do find that there are kids who are interested in being reporters?
CROSSON: Yes, like our class is growing.
DUTHIERS: Love it. I love it.
DIAZ: The future is bright.
NATE BURLESON: Yeah.
