I am Zach Spicer, and I have lived in Austin, Ind., my whole life. I went through Austin schools and graduated with the Class of 2001 of Austin High School. I was involved in several things in high school: National Honor Society, Spell Bowl, Academic Bowl, SADD Club, French Club, among other things. My senior year was probably the best year. I participated in the Senior Play and went on the Senior Trip. Both of these things really pulled everyone together and really helped you see a different side of your classmates, and it was something I will remember forever. I only graduated with 48 other people, but I will always remember all of them.

Throughout high school and into college, I held my first and only job at Wal-Mart in Scottsburg. I began there April 20, 2000, as a cashier and worked my way up to customer service manager. I did that for about three and a half years, and my last year and a half there, I worked in the accounting office. I quit that job to pursue a degree-related career in July 2006.

In August 2001, I had started college at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany. The only thing I was really involved with there was the student newspaper, The Horizon, which was a required one-year course for my major, journalism. I got a minor in advertising as well, and graduated May 8, 2006. I was very glad I ended up choosing IUS because the classes were small and everyone really helped you through your college years. Since I quit my job at Wal-Mart that summer, I chose to look for a new, more challenging career. After a long search 10 months later, I finally got a reporter’s job at The Tribune in Seymour. I am truly looking forward to this career, and hope to stick with it for a good while now.

Miscellaneous:

Interests: writing, music, concerts, walking, traveling, TV, movies, Indiana Pacers, Indianapolis Colts, Connecticut Huskies
If you have any specific questions about my interests, ask me. I like a lot of different musicians/singers/groups, love going to concerts, been to many places traveling and I watch several shows on TV. You can message or comment on my blog about anything I do for The Tribune or any of the interests I have listed above.

Parents: mom Jeannie Atkins, step dad Ron Atkins
Jeannie worked for The Tribune in the ’70s for a while, and worked at Austin schools for 26 years. She now works at Saegesser Engineering in Scottsburg and enjoys that job very much. Ron has been an English teacher for nearly 30 years and teaches junior English at Austin High School.
Brother: Josh Spicer
Josh graduated from AHS in 2000 and got his bachelor’s degree in business management from IU Southeast in 2005. He now works as a quality auditor at Austin Tri-Hawk Automotive in Austin.
Grandparents: Marjorie and Roger Fields
Marjorie is originally from Connecticut and she worked at the Electric Boat Company in Groton for many years, where they make submarines. That’s where she met Roger, originally from Kentucky, and they moved to Indiana where his family was. She got a job at American Can Co. in Austin and retired in 1983. Roger worked at Arvins and Cummins until his retirement in the ’80s as well. They are two very special people to me, and they have done a lot for themselves and their family throughout the years.
I also have family in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Connecticut (New England area) and Florida.

If you want to contact me any other way, my work e-mail is  zspicer at tribtown.com and I have a myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/zspicer. A lot of my interests and pictures are on there if you are interested in looking at it. And you can always check out stories I have done on www.tribtown.com, which is The Tribune’s official site.

It’s great to be working for The Tribune, and I look forward to meeting people and talking to people.