Alums in the news: Woodworking, journalism

Sunday’s Indianapolis Star carried a story about UIndy alum Marc Adams, whose woodworking school in rural Whiteland remains one of the largest and busiest institutions of its type in the nation.

Featured in UIndy’s Portico magazine back in 2004, the Marc Adams School of Woodworking now employs 12 full-time instructors, along with many expert guest instructors, and attracts about 2,500 students each year for intensive, hands-on courses and workshops in building furniture and other items.

Adams earned an education degree from UIndy (then known as Indiana Central) in 1981 and taught in public schools before starting his own, which has become one of the biggest tourist attractions in Johnson County. Learn more about the woodworking school here, and read the Star story here.

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Readers of the Indy Star’s print and online editions may enjoy Retro Indy, a feature that combs the newspaper’s archives to highlight colorful chapters from the city’s past.

Those strolls down memory lane would be far less engaging without the efforts of Dawn Mitchell, who earned an art degree at UIndy before joining the Star staff in 1986. She is now a photo researcher, tracking down images for the history pieces and general news coverage.

“I love the stories that make up our local history,” Mitchell said for a profile published Friday, “even more, I love to share those stories with our readers.”

Read more about Mitchell here, and check out Retro Indy here.