Calli Keener, an educator from Waxahachie, joins the Baptist Standard staff as news writer on Feb. 12.
While the bylines of female interns and freelancers have appeared on past articles, she is believed to be the first woman to serve as a full-time permanent reporter at the Baptist Standard in recent decades.
She will write feature articles and report on Texas Baptist news, and she gradually will begin assuming increased editing responsibilities in the months ahead.
Keener joins the Standard staff after an extensive search, Editor Eric Black said.
“Calli Keener joining our team is a joyful answer to prayer and a grateful conclusion to a long search for a news writer,” Black said. “Calli is a Texas Baptist to the core and a devoted reader of the Baptist Standard. She dreamt of working for the Standard but didn’t expect that dream to become reality.
“Our search was long, because it was intentional. Baptist journalism is a niche within a niche. Adding ‘Texas’ makes it more so. We wanted someone who knows Texas Baptists well and loves Texas Baptists well. Calli is that person and much more.”
Keener earned an undergraduate degree in English with a minor in Bible at Howard Payne University, graduating magna cum laude.
While working on master’s-level classes in English at Angelo State University, she was a tutor in the university’s language lab, helping students improve the quality of their writing.
When she was taking classes at Truett Theological Seminary, she worked as a tutor for Baylor University student athletes, helping them to improve their reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary skills.
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She has worked as a fifth-grade English teacher in Red Oak and as a third-grade teacher in Waxahachie. She also is the former owner and administrator of a senior home care business.
She and her husband Aaron are members of First Baptist Church in Waxahachie. They have four children.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The second paragraph was edited after the article originally was published.
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