Healthy NewsWorks is pleased to announce the addition of three new staff members to our team: Chief of Staff John LaChine, Program Associate Steve Riggs, and Communications Associate Meg Gladieux.
John started as chief of staff in June. Originally from Wisconsin, he got his start in Philadelphia schools as a volunteer with City Year, then became a certified English teacher and moved to Sweden, where he managed programming at the English School of Gothenburg. “The relationships I made there with students, their parents, and teachers are some of the strongest I’ve ever made, and I’m still in touch with many of my old students,” said John. One of his favorite projects involved teaching his students to make their own podcasts.
John earned a master’s degree in peace studies from Uppsala University in Sweden and a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from The Evergreen State College. As part of his master’s degree, he researched the role media plays in positive social change. “Whether it is in any number of media—film, drawing, or written text such as news—we have a responsibility to understand whatever and whoever we are representing in a full and just way,” said John.
Steve, a veteran educator with more than 25 years of experience as a classroom teacher, will join us in September as a program associate focused primarily on our South Jersey expansion. Steve’s teaching career has spanned the state of New Jersey—he’s taught in Camden, Willingboro, and Burlington Township, and has “loved every single moment.”
“My favorite part about working with students is when that ‘light’ comes on in their head and they fully grasp a concept and then run with it,” said Steve. In 2018, he was honored with a Teacher of the Year award from the Willingboro School District. In his more than three-decade teaching career, Steve has taught second, fourth, and fifth grades, in all subject areas, but writing has always been the thing he’s most enjoyed teaching. In joining the Healthy NewsWorks team, he’s excited to help cultivate media and health literacy with Healthy NewsWorks students, while also encouraging healthy habits in the larger school communities.
Meg joined our team as a communications associate in June. A Central Virginia native, Meg earned a master’s degree in education policy and a bachelor’s degree in cognitive science in French and francophone studies from the University of Pennsylvania. She got to know Philadelphia schools through work at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, as well as through advocacy for childhood grief and bereavement support in schools.
Meg brings to Healthy NewsWorks experience as a student journalist, writer, and editor. In college she founded her own magazine and recently worked on the book Profiles in Mental Health Courage, co-written by former U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy and Healthy NewsWorks Community Advisory Board Member Stephen Fried.
In our new staff’s free time, they do all sorts of things—John plays in the Philadelphia Ball Hockey League, Meg loves reading and writing poetry, and Steve is a spin instructor!
“We are thrilled to have the talent and experience that John, Steve, and Meg bring to our team as we prepare for the 2024–25 school year,” said Healthy NewsWorks Executive Director Marian Uhlman. “They will be an enormous help as we look to grow our program in Pennsylvania and South Jersey schools.”
