Ashley Gross
Youth and Education ReporterIn July 2017, Ashley Gross became KNKX's youth and education reporter after years of covering the business and labor beat. She joined the station in May 2012 and previously worked five years at WBEZ in Chicago, where she reported on business and the economy. Her work telling the human side of the mortgage crisis garnered awards from the Illinois Associated Press and the Chicago Headline Club. She's also reported for the Alaska Public Radio Network in Anchorage and for Bloomberg News in San Francisco.
She studied history at Brown University and earned a master's in international affairs at Columbia University. She grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She lives in West Seattle with her husband and two sons.
One of Ashley's most memorable moments in radio happened several years ago in Northwest Alaska: "I was visiting an alcohol and drug rehab program in the tiny village of Selawik. It helps Alaska Natives recover by helping them get back in touch with their subsistence lifestyle. It was spring, which meant the river was still frozen - barely. We went out on snowmachines to go ice-fishing, but late in the day, as we headed back, the river had melted to the consistency of a Slurpee. It was a harrowing ride and a good lesson in trust - I rode with my eyes closed, clinging for dear life to the woman driving. A week later, three people drowned trying to ride a snowmachine over that river, and that's when I realized just how dangerous life in rural Alaska can be."
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The stresses of the pandemic mean that public health officials are keeping a close eye on the rate of suicide. That includes among youth.The number of…
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UPDATE, Dec. 22: Corrects story to reflect that the Seattle school district recently approved one outdoor learning program serving four students. The risk…
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Amid increasing pressure from parents to have schools offer more face-to-face instruction, Gov. Jay Inslee has released updated recommendations to school…
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How do you build school spirit when students are learning from home?That’s been on the mind of 16-year-old Isaac Velazquez, a junior at Franklin Pierce…
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UPDATE, 5:26 pm: Adds comment from Juneau and a member of the NAACP Youth Council.Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau will not seek a…
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New research from the University of Washington shows that for Black youth, having an encounter with police in middle school means a higher likelihood of…
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Gov. Jay Inslee and the president of the Washington Education Association had a meeting on Wednesday to talk about the process of reopening schools for…
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More than half of the state’s public school students are in districts offering almost exclusively remote learning, but state Superintendent of Public…
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Demand for food assistance has surged this year as many people have lost their jobs.The Schultz Family Foundation, which was started by former Starbucks…
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A new illustrated children's book by a local author called "Panda Demick" highlights how the pandemic has, in some ways, been beneficial for Planet…