TJ Alum Chris Vanderveen says he used his experience with the TJ Journal to become the journalist he is today.
Photo Courtesy of Chris Vanderveen
“As a journalist, to this day, I would have to say my favorite activity at TJ was my involvement with the Thomas Jefferson Journal,” says former TJ student and now 9 News reporter Chris Vanderveen.
Vanderveen took advantage of the esteemed newspaper program at TJ as Editor-in-Chief in 1991-92 to eventually becoming one of Denver’s more recognizable journalist as a reporter for 9 News. Vanderveen came to TJ after finishing eighth grade at St. Louis Elementary School in Engelwood, with only 14 kids in his class.“When my twin brother and I arrived at TJ in 1988, we both felt a bit overwhelmed by the size of the school,” he said. Even with the major adjustments Vanderveen says he found TJ to be “a great fit.”
Vanderveen recalls from his freshman year, “I vividly remember someone talking to my freshman class telling us the next four years would be ‘some of the best of your lives.’ I tend to now agree with that statement.” To make those years the greatest of his life, Vanderveen said he really enjoyed his time as a staff member on the Journal. Matt Spampinato, Vanderveen’s Newspaper Advisor and current Center for Communication Technology Director said, “I remember Chris being a really good manager. He was a good leader, and talked through ideas with staff members to figure out what angle they should take on the article. He really knew how to appeal to the readers. But, most importantly, like any good editor Chris was the strongest writer on the staff.”
Vanderveen also said, “This might sound pretty stupid, but one of my best memories was the first time I saw someone inside a classroom reading an article I had just written for the Journal.”
Vanderveen’s passion for journalism began during his freshman year. “We watched a ton of television news and spent a lot of time reading both the Denver Post and now-defunct Rocky Mountain News. Then being part of the staff just seemed like a natural fit,” he said. Vanderveen was also able to work his way up from reporter his Junior year to Co-Editor-in-Chief his senior year. “I really enjoyed the experience immensely,” he said.
Photo Courtesy of Chris Vanderveen
Spampinato thought Vanderveen was the clear choice, saying, “It was because of his natural talent as a writer.”
Vanderveen knew about all the hard work that would be in store for the job. “The all-day weekend work sessions with Spampinato and the Journal staff that were geared around trying to make sure the Journal was ready to go to the printer on time, gave me an idea of what it was like to be a journalist in the real work place,” said Vanderveen, who also noted that he became a better leader through the experience of Editor-in-Chief. “It taught me how to meet deadlines, how to craft stories, and how to answer to critics,” he said.
Vanderveen was not only involved with the Journal, but he was also connected to a plethora of other activities: the debate team, theater productions, student council, and sports teams, included. “A semi decent defender on the soccer team, and a halfway-mediocre defender on the lacrosse team,” is how he describes his athletic involvement at TJ. Vanderveen was also on student council as the School Board Representative, as well as acting in the school plays Oklahoma! and West Side Story. Vanderveen was also very strong in his academics. “I was the Salutatorian of my graduating class, which would have been an incredible honor had it not been for the fact that the Valedictorian my senior year was my twin brother,” said Vanderveen with a competitive grin.
Vanderveen says that TJ prepared him well for college, as he went on to be involved with many activities and academics in general. Vanderveen said about his experience from TJ, “They taught me that education in general is what you make of it. It allowed me to take challenging courses to get me ready for the rigors of college classes.”
Vanderveen also keeps his own very funny sense of humor. Vanderveen has a great work ethic and a rich sense of humor that set him up well for college at CU Boulder. Vanderveen said, “College is, and will always be, what you make of it…I became convinced that Northwestern was the college for me,” but even after he was accepted at Northwestern, Vanderveen was unable to go because the cost of attendance was too high. Even though he felt disappointed, CU ended up being the best situation for Vanderveen, and he said, “I can’t tell you how glad I am that I graduated from college without having to go into massive amounts of debt.” The reason being that he won the prestigious Boettcher Award, a full-ride, four-year scholarship to any Colorado college. He went on to graduate from CU in 1996 with a Bachelors of Science in Broadcast Journalism.
Vanderveen knew he had to start somewhere, and that somewhere was very small with a job in Casper, Wyoming that paid $12,500 a year. Vanderveen worked at the CBS affiliate in Casper working any position he was asked to, from side anchor to photojournalist. Then in 1998, Vanderveen left KGWC-TV(Casper affiliate) to head south to KOAA-TV in Colorado Springs, where he covered city politics until 2002 when he was then offered a job at KUSA-TV(9News).
Vanderveen says he loves being back in Denver, near TJ where it all started for him.
