On April 1st, the Kansas Free Press will mark its 6-month anniversary. With gratitude for the Kansans who nobly commit their time and talents to citizen journalism, we are celebrating our upcoming half-year anniversary by proudly showcasing each of our writers.
MOUND CITY, Kan. - In this profile, we proudly introduce KFP correspondent, Denise Cassells. Though she was born in Kansas, Denise spent much of her life in Arizona, Colorado and even a couple of years in Washington. These cultural diversities enriched her life, allowing her to get to know interesting people from many backgrounds.
Her daughter, Theta Tau Chapter President of Sigma Kappa Sorority will soon graduate from K-State and begin working toward her master's in gerontology at Kansas University. Her son, a sophomore at Kansas University recently pledged Triangle Fraternity. Denise feels that a good education is paramount.
Denise spent 17 years in business management, and now manages her husband's construction business from their home in rural Linn County, Kansas.
In recent years, she took a job at the Linn County News doing graphic design. This quickly led to her becoming a reporter and staff reporter, a position she held for over two years. She also worked for Miami County Newspapers as full time reporter with assignments for covering Linn County. Now, Denise has returned to college and plans to continue her own education at a relaxed pace while pursuing her other activities.
She is county chair of the Democratic Central Committee in Linn County, is a member of the Mound City Chamber of Commerce, serves as a board member on planning and zoning, and and advisory council member for the Miami County continued education program. Denise is also very interested in volunteer work, raising awareness in her community in conjunction with the Rural Fire Department.
Denise's deepest passions besides her family are politics, writing, reading nonfiction, and doing extensive research in the arena of politics. She has worked on numerous political campaigns over the years and continues those efforts.
She believes that her voice is her greatest attribute. She used it along with other skills while publishing a state newsletter and co-publishing the National Communicator for the National Federation of Democratic Women. Denise also served as the communications coordinator for 11 mid-west states for the Nat'l Federation.
Denise realized a dream come true when she served as one of five at large Kansas state delegates to nominate now President Barack Obama, and chosen as one of 15,000 worldwide correspondents to receive press credentials through the US Press Gallery to cover the historic 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Denise believes that publishers who are beholden to advertisers should not stifle honest reporting. This sentiment prompted her to reject a recent offer for a reporting position.
She also writes at EverydayCitizen.com.
With her many passions and interests, we know that Denise will continually find topics to write about here. Denise welcomes readers to view entries from her complete historical archives here.
To learn more about any KFP writers, we encourage you to browse our directory of citizen journalists.
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