Reporter Sean Dolan joined Idaho Education News on Monday.

He comes to us from the Twin Falls Times-News, where he covered Magic Valley politics, K-12 education and the College of Southern Idaho.

“He’s a proven talent in Idaho journalism and we’re excited to add him to our veteran team,” said Jennifer Swindell, managing editor at Idaho EdNews. “He’s smart and worldly, two things that equal success.”

Dolan previously worked at three local newspapers in the Mountain West and taught second grade for a year through an alternative license program.

Dolan grew up in Fairfax, Virginia.

After graduating from James Madison University in 2013, Dolan spent two years in Australia and New Zealand on working holiday visas. He worked in restaurants, a hostel, a dairy farm and busked in the streets of Queenstown.

Upon returning home in 2016, he moved across the country to be a reporter for The Herald Journal in Logan, Utah. He covered city government and two school districts. He then moved to Cortez, Colorado, to cover local government and crime for The Journal.

Dolan took a break from journalism and worked as a second grade teacher for a year in Cortez. He participated in a six-week teacher boot camp before stepping into his own classroom. He saw firsthand the challenges that teachers face in public schools.

At EdNews, Dolan will cover elections and implementation of education policy.

You can reach him at sean@idahoednews.org.