own editor and publisher, Abigail Bardwell, made the Texas Association of School Boards Media Honor Roll for both Aubrey ISD and Pilot Point ISD.
Abigail has been serving the Ranch Cities area for nearly a decade and has grown accustomed to the role behind the spotlight, interviewing and capturing moments, but now she is taking center stage because of her work in covering education.
“It’s a little different when you’re used to being the one who does the highlighting, and instead you’re the one who is being held up and said, ‘Hey, this person did a good job,’” Abigail said. “So, it’s a very strange reversal of roles. But it is something that mattered a lot to me to receive this award and to know that … what we do as a paper is seen by these community members and appreciated.”
This is Abigail’s first time receiving this award.
She learned she had been chosen by accident when she stumbled upon a press release from the Texas Association of School Boards and was surprised to see her name listed for Aubrey.
The moment became even more emotional and shocking when her husband, Jim Bardwell, discovered that her name was also listed a second time for Pilot Point.
It only grew more special for Abigail as she saw familiar names on the list, like James Draper with the Gladewater Mirror, Wyndi Veigel-Gaudette and Paul Gaudette with The Dublin Citizen, and a few others from the Gatesville Messenger, friends and fellow journalists from the surrounding papers she knows well from the North and East Texas Press Association, the organization she now serves as president.
“Knowing that there are colleagues of mine who are a part of that organization were also highlighted—it was a really special experience to get to reach out to my friends and say congratulations on being on the list, too,” Abigail said.
She first started at the Post-Signal newspaper in late 2017 as a contributing writer and copyeditor and has progressed to editor and publisher.
In her first year, Abigail started covering the Aubrey ISD school board meetings, and around 2019, she started covering Pilot Point ISD.
“I’m a big believer in the value of education, especially public education,” she said. “To be able to get this type of award means a lot to me. To know that I am seen by these educators as somebody who is trying to help make a difference in telling their stories and help people know what they’re doing—that means a lot to know that that is how they see the work that we’re doing at the paper.”
The honorees are selected yearly by school districts, which may choose a local media representative from radio, print or television.
The individual must demonstrate the following criteria: accurate and fair reporting; campus involvement; calling attention to positive developments in the district; and making an effort to foster relations with the superintendent, board president and the district’s mission.
“I do feel strongly that the importance of community relationships cannot be underplayed for both community journalism and also for just a sense of community in the areas that we serve, because when people know what’s happening and feel tied into the decisions and the decision makers, then there is a greater sense of being one group that’s working toward goals together,” she said.
With two children of her own, Abigail’s bond was made that much stronger, as her children attend school in Aubrey ISD.
“I have really enjoyed having the opportunity to go through and tell the stories of both Aubrey and Pilot Point ISD, and talk about what they have done well, help them communicate with the community about the decisions that they have made, and also be able to highlight the successes that their students and their faculty members have had over the years,” Abigail said.
She will be publicly recognized for her work by both the school districts later this month at the respective board meetings.
Abigail said she wanted to thank the AISD Superintendent Dr. Shannon Saylor, PPISD Superintendent Dr. Shannon Fuller, and the school boards for their acclaim and the friendship that comes with nearly a decade of working together.
“I really do value those relationships, and I value them knowing that we care about putting out the information about their districts and highlighting what they do well and trying to help promote the solutions for problems that they face so that they can be able to connect with their communities through the newspaper,” she said.
