While most of Dawn Sterling's classmates at Utica High School in Michigan were still trying to master advanced algebraic formulas and driver's education, Dawn was busy making plans for a future in broadcast journalism.
"I had a great history teacher named Terry Havel who was really interested in broadcasting and had acquired the necessary equipment to get on the air," Dawn reflects. "He was planning a half hour broadcast on a local cable access channel dealing with high school issues and encouraged me to get involved. He thought I asked good questions and would be great on the air, so I decided to give it try."
"Dawn did it all," Havel recalled from his office at Harrisburg College in Gettysburg, Pa. where he teaches history and government. "She went out and got the story, ran the video camera, wrote the story and then came in and got on camera and reported the news. And she did it all in one take.
People are also reading…
"She's the most memorable student I ever had in my entire 26-year career as a high school teacher. You just knew there was something special about her."
Dawn said Havel's mastery of the technology was rudimentary by today's standards but she credits him for his desire and determination to get the program on the air and for giving her the opportunity to star in the production. She continued with the program during her senior year, and when it came time to choose a college, she chose Central Michigan because of its eminence in the field of broadcasting.
Along the way, Dawn took advantage of an opportunity to do some job shadowing at Fox 2 in Detroit, where she was introduced to all aspects of the television broadcast business, but decided the job of reporter/anchor was the one she really wanted. The college had its own station and provided plenty of practice for the fledgling journalist.
After graduating in 1999, she landed a job at local station in Binghamton, New York.
"It was a small market, but I got a lot of experience during the nine months that I was there," she said. "I did it all. I reported, took the video, edited the tape and got it on the air. It was a lot of work but the experience was invaluable."
She said the other thing she learned was something all good reporters need to learn sooner or later and that is the need to strike a balance between being a reporter and showing that you are still a regular, compassionate person who cares about their plight. Often, that lesson is learned under fire.
"Some stories are about people who are going through a tremendous loss or dealing with huge health issues and you have to learn how to report a story and remain compassionate at the same time," Dawn says. "You would never want to come off as non-caring or abrupt. Part of the job involves learning what to do and what not to do and that only comes with experience."
She left Binghamton after nine months for a job at in slightly larger market of Terre Haute, Indiana where she covered the biggest story of her young career-the execution of Timothy McVeigh, for the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in which 168 people were killed.
The upcoming execution brought a large contingent of national and foreign media to town to cover the event.
"The media show was incredible to see," she said. "It was a whole new experience. The Morning Show was doing live broadcasts from the scene, and I just kept thinking it was really incredible for me to be working on a story this big. The media event was so big, if fact, that it nearly overshadowed the execution.
"It was certainly the biggest news story I've ever covered."
Dawn stayed in Terre Haute a couple of years before landing back in Michigan, just an hour away from where she grew up and where her family and many of her friends still reside. She worked at a station in Flint gaining more experience until 2004 when she was hired as a reporter/anchor at WAND TV.
She starts her day at 1:30 p.m. and begins a routine day by checking her e-mail and returning phone calls before quickly catching up on the overnight news. After the daily staff meeting where the stories for the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. news are discussed, she goes back to her desk to write a news brief for the Cromwell Group, and then prepares for the first on-camera work of the day which involves shooting news briefs. Then, back at her desk, she goes over the upcoming newscast with co-anchor Sean Streety before going on the air at 5 p.m.
But some days are not routine. Breaking news often means scraping everything you've done and starting over, furiously rewriting the news on a short, or drop-dead deadline.
"It all goes pretty smooth until a big news story breaks, then everything goes out the window," Dawn says. "A major fire or an ominous weather story can change everything.
"We like to call it 'controlled chaos.'"
One such event was the stand-off in Douglas County where a deputy sheriff was killed and the bank robbers held hostages.
"That situation changed our game plan completely," Dawn said. "We had reporters in the area who were giving us information. We were passing along whatever information we were able to learn, and with news time upon us, we went live with what we had.
"I don't get nervous on the air anymore but those types of situations can raise your adrenaline level."
Dawn's day can easily turn from a regular eight-hour shift into a 24-hour day.
"When the Conair Plant in Rantoul exploded in June of 2005, I went to the scene and was there all night and went on the air the next morning at 6 a.m. to bring our viewers the latest developments," she recalls.
Dawn said the job is more exciting than she ever dreamed it would be. She added that she has met some fantastic people in Decatur and the other communities where she has worked, who have invited her into their homes and trusted her to tell their stories. And that trust is really what it's all about.
"We as news anchors and reporters have to gain the trust of the viewers who watch us every day. They have to trust you to get the full story and keep them informed and that is a responsibility that I accepted when I took this job and I take it very seriously."
Chris Bullock, general manager of the Comcast radio group in Decatur that includes WEJT said he appreciates Dawn's approach to the news. "I think people find her quite personable and very credible," he said.
Havel, who was similarly impressed when Dawn volunteered to help him launch his early high school television program, said he, too, was glad to have her during her junior and senior year.
"She had a great personality," he said. "She was sweet and friendly and hard working, and a joy to work with. I am not at all surprised to learn that she has done so well.
"She was born to broadcast journalism as I was born to teaching."
Dawn did manage to set aside enough time in 2001 to get married to Scott Gregory who is a financial consultant at A.G. Edwards in Decatur. Their home is shared with Pei Pei, a Chinese Shar-Pei with a bear coat (long hair). Dawn's love of dogs made it easy for her to get involved with the Fido Fields project in Fairview Park.
Besides spending time with Pei Pei at Fido Fields, Dawn likes to participate in aerobic, spinning and kick boxing classes at the Decatur Athletic Club. But the time at the gym has to compete nowadays with time she devotes to a relatively new activity.
"I love to sew," Dawn reveals. "I haven't yet found time to take sewing lessons, but I did take a class in junior high school and that has helped. I got a new sewing machine for Christmas and I really enjoy creating things using the skills I've learned so far and the process of learning as I go.
"When I see cute curtains and pillows at shows or in ads, I say to myself, 'I can do that.'"
And it's that can-do attitude - which has served her so well in life - that makes the sky the limit for this NewsCenter 17 co-anchor.
