News

School system hires new public information officer

Molly McGowan Gorsuch interviews School Board Chair Ervin Bazzle.

By Bill Moss, Published: December 9, 2014

The Henderson County school system has hired Times-News reporter Molly McGowan Gorsuch as public information officer, replacing Trish Allen, who retired.
Gorsuch said that in addition to traditional news releases she would in her new job focus on social media like Facebook and Twitter and learn from Parent Teacher Organizations and school principals and teachers the stories they want to tell.
"We're going to rejuvenate the quarter newsletter and make it more accessible on line," she added.
She's already encountered an example of how the centralized website could be used. A parent had asked about a backpack program at a school and wanted to know how to donate. Gorsuch said she hopes the site can list all the backpack programs, which provide food for the weekend for needy children, and contact information.
"We're just thrilled to have Molly on board," said schools Superintendent David Jones. "We appreciate all the hard work Trisha Allen did for all the years. She'll be dealing more with social media."
A native of Hawaii and 2010 graduate of Elon University, Gorsuch, 26, had covered education at the Times-News for the past eight months. Before that she was a reporter for four years at the Burlington Times-News, a sister paper of the Hendersonville daily. As public information officer, Gorsuch reports to Jones.