Editors often advise reporters: If you’re doing your job right — observing and listening carefully — you’ll never run out of story ideas. One article should lead to the next.
No one at Seven Days has ever had to explain that to Alison Novak, our education writer since 2020 and the New England Newspaper & Press Association’s Reporter of the Year.
Alison requires no prodding to find breaking news on her busy beat, which includes childcare and juvenile justice. She also tackles long, complex pieces. Her February 18 cover story, “Empty Desks,” laid out how multiple problems in Vermont — aging population, low birth rate, fewer immigrant families and the housing crisis — have conspired to imperil enrollment in the state’s public schools. A packed spread of letters to the editor on pages 20 and 21 suggests Vermonters are paying attention.
A former elementary school teacher, Alison does her homework and, when necessary, calls bullshit. Last year, she wrote a piece sub-headlined: “Gov. Phil Scott’s proposed education overhaul resembles past plans to address long-standing challenges.” A Burlington reader wrote in about the story, rightly observing, “It’s rare to have historic context provided in the coverage of an issue … In this story, education reporter Alison Novak went back not only to former Vermont governor Phil Hoff but also to the early 19th century! Well done.”
Sources and tipsters trust Alison because they know “I’m not in it to write some surface-level story,” she surmised, and “I don’t want to miss anything.” These days that requires her to monitor education committee proceedings in both the House and Senate chambers — often listening on Bluetooth in her car while reporting other stories. “What’s happening in the legislature with education is so consequential right now,” she said. “I want to understand day-to-day what the conversations are.”
Alison’s own children were 3 and 6 when she joined Seven Days in 2013 as a part-time calendar writer for our parenting publication, Kids VT. Two years later, she became the editor. At the start of the pandemic, she came forward and declared she wanted to be a K-12 reporter on the news team.
Alison Novak has quietly become
the most knowledgeable education
reporter in the state.
Her timing was perfect, as Vermont education was about to be turned upside down in ways that are still being assessed. In the six years she has covered the beat, Alison has written about Vermont schools — including the renewed debate about the best way to teach reading — as well as countless adjacent topics that affect children and families: the shortage of childcare in Vermont, PCBs in schools, controversies around trans athletes, the state’s new ed secretary, uncivil behavior at youth sporting events. She has quietly become the most knowledgeable education reporter in the state.
The NENPA judges noticed, recognizing Alison with first-place wins for her work in the realms of education, investigative and government journalism. The range and quality of her work inspired them to also select her as Reporter of the Year — a designation that is bestowed; you can’t apply for it.
(Last year the honor went to Vermont reporter Aaron Calvin, who joined the Seven Days news team a month ago.)
Up until her name was announced at the awards banquet on March 14 in Portsmouth, N.H., Alison couldn’t believe she’d won. She attributed her disbelief to “impostor syndrome,” but more likely it’s old-fashioned humility.
“I came to journalism a little later in life,” the 48-year-old reporter said, “so I still feel kind of new to it.” Upon further reflection, though, she noted, “I think my age and experience give me an edge … I feel lucky to get to do this work.”
The original print version of this article was headlined “Teach Your Readers Well”
This article appears in March 25 • 2026.
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