Lasherica Thornton

About

Lasherica Thornton covers education in the Central Valley region for EdSource, a nonprofit organization with California’s largest team of education reporters. In this role, Lasherica finds, cultivates, and reports on local stories through a statewide and national lens. She was most recently the Engagement Reporter for The Fresno Bee’s Education Lab in Fresno, CA. As a link between the donor-funded Ed Lab of reporters and the community, she wrote impactful stories for readers, produced a newsletter discussing the team’s work, and engaged with the community.Prior to her time in California, she was the Education & Features Reporter for The Jackson Sun, a USA Today Network paper, where she covered the educational systems for more than 13 counties, featured the inspiring stories of citizens, and held officials accountable for more than three years.Lasherica holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a minor in legal studies from the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at the University of Mississippi (known as Ole Miss). A Mississippi native, she started her journalistic career in the eighth grade as a reporter and editor for her high school newspaper. She reported for The Daily Mississippian, then freelanced for The Oxford Eagle while in college.During an internship in Pennsylvania her junior year of college, Lasherica covered state government and wrote for six publications, including The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.As she's done since becoming a journalist, she will use her unique perspective as a mother to shape the way she covers the education community.