Armando Rasing II - Armando Rasing II: Storyteller & Journalist

My Work

Resume

Blog Posts

JMS 430 Story Project

Final Project Essay

Welcome

There are plenty of skills that I learned in this class that I did not have prior to taking this class. We learned about AI, and I found that I can easily detect what is AI content and what is real now. I always wanted to learn how to use Medium and now I know how to. The biggest thing I learned was learning how to write decks and captions for stories. I did not even know what those two things were before this class. Now that I know that it is essential to journalistic writing, it has been very helpful to me.

Synopsis

Discover the compelling stories and insightful journalism of Armando Rasing II, a dedicated journalist based in San Diego. Explore his bio, resume, recent work, and get in touch to collaborate or learn more.

Personne étudiant son cours sur une table noire.

Armando Rasing II: Storyteller & Journalist

My name is Armando Rasing II, and I just graduated from San Diego State University in May with a B.A in Journalism. I was an intern sportswriter for Prost International from January to May 2025. I have been a freelance writer for East County Magazine since November 2025.

Armando Rasing II

About Me

Combining text, photos, and video to create immersive stories that resonate with diverse audiences.

Photographie faisant partie de la série de photographies "Letters" : Media

Multimedia Storytelling

Timely and accurate reporting on breaking news events in San Diego and beyond, delivering clear and concise information.

News Coverage

Crafting opinion pieces and editorials that engage readers and provoke thoughtful discussion on current affairs.

Editorial Writing

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://prostinternational.com/2025/03/21/clippers-fall-short-to-vipers-in-home-game-finale-despite-big-night-from-flowers/">https://prostinternational.com/2025/03/21/clippers-fall-short-to-vipers-in-home-game-finale-despite-big-night-from-flowers/</a>

Post-game article about San Diego Clippers

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/grossmont-district’s-high-schools-experience-first-semester-without-teacher-librarians">https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/grossmont-district’s-high-schools-experience-first-semester-without-teacher-librarians</a>

Article about Grossmont District firing teacher-librarians

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://prostinternational.com/2025/03/23/gia-corley-emerges-as-an-integral-part-of-new-look-san-diego-wave/">https://prostinternational.com/2025/03/23/gia-corley-emerges-as-an-integral-part-of-new-look-san-diego-wave/</a>

Post-game article about San Diego Wave's Gia Corley

Articles Written by Armando Rasing II

Crafting tailored content strategies that align with your brand goals and audience interests for maximum engagement.

Desk with a keyboard and a planner with the words Content Strategy on it

Content Strategy Development

Conducting workshops to train spokespeople and journalists on effective communication, interview techniques, and media handling.

Media Training Workshops

Producing high-quality journalistic podcasts including scripting, interviewing, and audio editing to engage your audience in a new format.

Podcast Production

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://prostinternational.com/2025/03/22/san-diego-wave-fc-set-to-face-utah-royals-in-home-opener-on-saturday-night/">Article published by Prost International</a>

Post it sticky notes editorial ideas board

San Diego Wave FC host first game of season on Saturday night

I was an intern sports writer for Prost International from January to May of 2025.

Intern for Prost International

I became a freelance/intern news writer for East County Magazine in November 2025.

Freelance writer for East County Magazine

Hello, my name is Armando Rasing II. I am a fourth-year journalism major. I was originally a kinesiology major during my first year of school, but it wasn't for me, so I switched to journalism. I want to finish this semester and school year on a good note.My goal for this class is to get a good grade and to sharpen my digital journalism skills. I'm not the most tech-savvy and having technology skills is mandatory to be successful in the journalism world. I am taking this class because it's required, but I hope that the skills I learn in this class will be skills that I can use for the rest of my professional career.

Blog Post 1

Discover compelling stories and insightful journalism from San Diego and beyond. Explore my bio, resume, recent work, and get in touch to collaborate on impactful storytelling.

Instagram - @andrewtneel | Donations - paypal.me/AndrewNeel

Armando Rasing II: San Diego Journalist

My digital journalism skills have gotten sharper since I've started this class. We have learned several different things such as identifying whether a photo is artificial intelligence, ethics in journalism, how to create a successful newsletter, etc.The class has been very engaging. The lectures aren't too long and Professor Koenig gives each lecture with energy which makes it easier to follow. We have fun labs where we engage with our tablemates and work together to accomplish different tasks. My grade is good so far and I plan to maintain that. For the proposed story project, I'm a little nervous about working on a project that big and making sure I perform it correctly. I am writing about staff budget cuts for a high school district. The most important thing for me is securing my sources, especially the people that got fired. I want get engaging quotes so that I tell the story properly.

Blog Post 2

<h3></h3> All Grossmont Union High School District teacher-librarians were laid off earlier this year The Grossmont Union High School District board held an emergency board meeting last February to vote on whether they should keep or lay off almost 50 credentialed teachers. Despite almost 600 students and parents in attendance to support the teachers, the board voted 4-1 to eliminate them, including all nine district librarians.&nbsp; The board has not elaborated on the reason for its decision. While the majority of the workers eventually got their jobs back, the teacher-librarian position is still eliminated.&nbsp; “I was at the board meeting where they made the official decision,” said Monte Vista High School English teacher and former teacher-librarian Nicole SaBell-Stoltz. “It was absolutely devastating.” A teacher-librarian, also known as a school librarian, is someone who is certified to manage a school library while also having training in teaching. Teacher-librarians are trained to instruct, supervise and develop students, along with having the skills and responsibility to manage a library.&nbsp; The teacher-librarians for all nine schools in the district were moved to teacher positions. Valhalla High School English teacher and former teacher-librarian Stephanie Macceca said that she was told by her union president that librarians were going to be laid off and that she had anticipated the move for over a year.&nbsp; “I was hurt, but I was not surprised,” Macceca said. “We were actively working to try to save jobs and to point out what was going wrong in the school district and point out bad decision making by the part of the board, and we knew that we would be targeted as a result.” The decline in librarians throughout the country rose during the pandemic. In the 2020-21 school year, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED641333#:~:text=This%20report%20reveals%20that%2C%20in,four%20schools%20in%202015%2D16.">&nbsp;3 out of 10 public schools didn’t have a librarian.</a>&nbsp; The 2025-26 school year marks the first school year that the GUHSD doesn’t have any designated teacher-librarians.&nbsp; “This year, when I got back to school, I needed to go into the library, like I literally couldn’t step foot in (the library),” Macceca said. “It was so painful because I had transformed it.” The library is ‘the heartbeat of any school’ Students take the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress every year for evaluation of their reading proficiency. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://caaspp-elpac.ets.org/elpac/DashViewReportSA?ps=true&amp;lstTestYear=2025&amp;lstTestType=SA&amp;lstGroup=1&amp;lstSubGroup=001&amp;lstGrade=13&amp;lstSchoolType=A&amp;lstCounty=37&amp;lstDistrict=68130&amp;lstSchool=0000000&amp;lstFocus=a">GUHSD had a 13% proficiency rating</a> in the 2024-25 school year, meaning that 13% of their students were “well developed” with English language proficiency. “Third and fifth grade (reading level) is considered functional illiteracy,” Macceca, who specializes in teaching English learners, said. “The freshmen that I’m teaching right now are functionally illiterate.” Almost 42% of their students were at the lowest proficiency level. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://caaspp-elpac.ets.org/elpac/DashViewReportSA?ps=true&amp;lstTestYear=2025&amp;lstTestType=SA&amp;lstGroup=1&amp;lstSubGroup=001&amp;lstSchoolType=A&amp;lstGrade=13&amp;lstCounty=00&amp;lstDistrict=00000&amp;lstSchool=0000000">The state of California altogether had above a 15% proficiency rating</a>, with only 23.65% of students at the lowest proficiency level.&nbsp; “Schools with a librarian, the literacy rates are much higher,” said Granite Hills English teacher and former teacher-librarian Angela Scott. “When you have a dedicated librarian whose job it is to connect with books, that’s all the difference.” Teacher-librarians were not only in charge of managing books in the library, but also supervising and helping students, providing book suggestions and more.&nbsp; “The library is like the heartbeat of any school,” SaBell-Stoltz said. “I would work through lunch because that was the busiest time of the day. I’d get 70-to-80-plus kids coming in, playing games, talking to each other, getting out of the heat.” The position is now replaced with “library technicians,” who used to be the librarian’s assistant and are now in charge of managing the library, without the responsibility of supervising students or having extensive literary knowledge.&nbsp; “I just think it’s really unethical for the school district to pay (library technicians) so significantly less to do the work that we did,” Macceca said. “They’re not trained to do what they’re doing. They’re just making do with what they can do.” Libraries are now required to be closed during lunch and after school because library technicians do not have the requirements necessary to legally supervise students. “We are certified teachers,” said Mount Miguel history teacher and former teacher-librarian Jason Balisteri. “Classified people cannot supervise kids. So the library, theoretically, should be closed throughout the entire school day. Students are stuck on campus after dark. They’re sitting there waiting for a ride because they did their sports activity, or they’re waiting for their sports activity to start. They have no place to go. Everything’s locked.”Because students are not allowed in the library with someone with teaching credentials, library time for students is very limited.“Because I’m a credentialed teacher, students are allowed to be in a library with me there at all times,” SaBell-Stoltz said.&nbsp; “But students are not able to be in the library with the library tech unless a teacher is with them. So you have to be a credentialed, certified librarian in order for students to be in there.” Households within the GUHSD district (workers and students) have an average of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://censusreporter.org/profiles/96000US0616230-grossmont-union-high-school-district-ca/">&nbsp;$41,883 per capita income,</a> which is below the average of $51,564 in San Diego County, according to the 2023 American Community Survey census. Approximately <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://censusreporter.org/profiles/96000US0616230-grossmont-union-high-school-district-ca/">15% of students</a> within the district live below the poverty line compared to the 11% average across San Diego County.&nbsp; “And then (in) a low income area like our schools, there’s a lot of kids still chilling (after school), right?” Balisteri said. “But now they can’t go to the library and it’s raining outside. My board members kept my kids outside in the rain, sitting on concrete.” Bigger than books There are more than 1,500 emails and counting that have been sent to the district office in support of rescinding the board’s decision. There were approximately 600 people in attendance at the initial meeting to protest in favor of librarians. “It reminds us, we do matter,” Scott said. “We are fighting the right fight. People care. They don’t want to be known as a community or an area that doesn’t have a librarian.” There were 90 people who volunteered to speak in front of the board. Multiple speakers were members of the LGBTQ+ community, citing the library as a safe space for them.&nbsp; “I’ve advocated for LGBTQ students, particularly trans students, to have a bathroom that’s not in the nurse’s office where sick kids use the bathroom,” Macceca said. “And so, my library bathroom became the bathroom for students who were vulnerable.” Several of the schools in the GUHSD district have a large immigration population for both parents and students. For example, Valhalla High School has a predominantly Arab student population. “I can’t tell you how many kids I helped with Social Security documents and or their parents with the kind of documents they need to complete for immigration for citizenship,” Macceca said. “We did all kinds of work like that for families, and I absolutely guarantee that’s not happening anymore.” Macceca also said that librarians can provide further guidance for students that would be difficult for a teacher to give. She cited examples of helping students who were going through difficult times at home. “We saw the kids in between the classes and saw what they needed outside of their academics to support them, so that they felt more direction or felt validated in what they were doing or if they needed guidance,” Macceca said. Controversy within the GUHSD board There has been active tension between the local community and members of the GUHSD board. The board voted to not consider a resolution that would provide resources and training towards immigrant rights at last Thursday’s board meeting, to the dismay of dozens of protesters in attendance. Following the decision to remove all librarians, the board has also faced accusations of committing Brown Act violations. Four of the board members - Scott Eckert, Jim Kelly, Robert Shield and Gary Woods - had their group text messages revealed by the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/06/13/grossmont-school-trustees-regularly-discussed-board-business-in-private-texts-and-emails/">San Diego Union-Tribune in June.</a> A main focus of the text messages included reducing librarians to stop “woke” ideology.&nbsp; “The board wanted to hurt us,” Balisteri said. “They did, but they’re hurting the kids.” As of the 2023-24 California Department of Education’s enrollment report, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/dqcensus/enrethgrd.aspx?agglevel=District&amp;year=2023-24&amp;cds=3768130">over 60%</a> of GUHSD’s student population are people of color, with a large majority being Hispanic.&nbsp; “The students of our schools look a lot different than the people for the schools that they work for,” Balisteri said. “Robert Shield works for a private school. Scott Eckert worked for a private school. Gary Woods works for a bible student school and says he is for all religions, yet his own published writings say that all religions are not equal and is discriminatory against Islam.” What now? The nine GUHSD librarians who were fired, along with people from local communities, are still trying to get the decision reversed. For example, Balisteri has shown up to several board meetings since the decision, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DQR9eMmj6yj/?img_index=2">there are still active petitions online that community members have put out.&nbsp;</a> “I hope that we get our positions back and reinstated,” SaBell-Stoltz said. “To me, that is the only way to right this wrong.” SaBell-Stoltz, Scott, Macceca and Balisteri are all currently teachers. While they were all teachers before becoming a librarian, they emphasized that being a librarian is special and that is the job that they want. “My favorite thing about (being a librarian was) that every student is my student, every teacher is my co-teacher as a librarian,” Balisteri said. “I could make eye contact with anybody and give them a fist bump. There’s power there. I’m telling you, that was so special.” Scott admitted that while she enjoys being a teacher, losing her job as a librarian has caused sleepless nights for her.&nbsp; “I truly miss the connections,” Scott said. “It’s a different connection (between students and librarians). Being in the library, I have the opportunity to work with every single student in history.” All four librarians said that they missed the conversations they used to share with students about books. Another thing all of them mentioned was that they enjoyed helping students become passionate about reading.&nbsp; “I think the thing I missed the most was sitting at my desk and watching students come (into) the library and decide, ‘I’m going to take that book,’” Macceca said. “And then they come in and they talk to me about it. And knowing that those micro experiences are what are developing them into these very advanced sophisticated thinkers.”“I miss that a little bit,” she added. “Well, maybe I miss it a lot.” This project was produced by Armando Rasing II as a published learning experience in JMS&nbsp;430&nbsp;Digital Journalism, part of the Journalism and Media Studies Program at San Diego State University.Photo at the top by Armando Rasing II

Grossmont high schools experience first semester without teacher-librarians

(Blog Post 3)<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://medium.com/@arasing1514/judge-temporarily-blocks-trump-administration-from-firing-federal-workers-during-government-283eacd1fb91 ">Medium link</a>(Blog Post 4) The final project essay went very well. I had initial doubts about the strength of my story, but it turned out great. I got an A on the infographic, and hopefully I get a similar score on the essay portion.I did a lot of research and background check before interviewing my sources and writing the essay. I interviewed four former teacher-librarians that were laid off in January. They spoke very passionately in their interviews. One interview (with two librarians) took almost 90 minutes to complete. I admit that it was a challenge trying to fit that all into one essay. I ended up submitting the paper to East County Magazine, and they accepted it and got it published. I also got paid a decent amount because of it.

Blog Post 3 & 4

For my story project, I contacted former Monte Vista High School librarian, Nicole SaBell-Stoltz for an in-person interview. I conducted the interview at her house. It went well, and she was able to direct me to three other librarians in the district. The next day, I conducted two interviews, one with two librarians simultaneously. One interview was over Zoom and the other was at a restaurant. All of the interviews went well. I made sure to show up on time, ask to record the conversation and not cut them off while they were speaking. My JMS 420 professor advised me to treat interviews as a conversation, and I tried my best to do so. The biggest challenge that I faced while writing this essay was finding which quotes in my interviews were strongest. I had two 30-minute interviews and one interview that was over 75 minutes. For the interview that was over 75 minutes, it was a very long process to listen to the audio and read the transcription over again to find the strongest quotes. The biggest opportunity I had while working on this essay was getting the story published for East County Magazine. It's good for my resume, and I was paid too.

Developing the Story Project

There are plenty of skills that I learned in this class that I did not have prior to taking this class. We learned about AI, and I found that I can easily detect what is AI content and what is real now. I did not have experience in using data for digital journalism. Lab 9 helped me out the most, because it was essential experience with Google Maps to using data and writing and creating an infographic. I honestly struggled because it was like learning how to walk for the first time. Professor Koenig helped me navigate some of the technical difficulties that I was experiencing. The most enjoyable experience I had was writing my story project. It took a very long time, but I enjoyed it a lot. Throughout this semester, I developed a passion for journalism that was not there before. For the first time, journalistic writing did not feel like work today.