Harvey Araton, New York Times sports columnist, recently spoke to Dan Feld and Larry Lhulier’s journalism classes at Mainland Regional High School (MRHS) about the theme of writing with your heart and gut, as much as your mind.

“It’s important to approach reporting with the idea of allowing the story to tell itself,” said Mr. Araton. “When you come to a story with a preconceived notion of what you’re going to write — you can miss the most important aspect of the story.”

The visit to the journalism classes was the second time Mr. Araton came to Mainland. A month earlier, he visited a football practice leading up to the Mustang’s first game of the season after the car accident that claimed the lives of four players. In his story, he was the first reporter to document how Coach Bob Coffey occasionally reads the names of the lost players while taking attendance and how the entire team answers “here” as a reminder that their teammates are still with them in spirit.

“There are always logistical and legal details that you have to address, but they shouldn’t be the focus of the story,” said Mr. Araton. “If I knew exactly what I was going to write before coming to Mainland, I would have missed that important detail that was at the heart of a story about a community coming together to persevere through tragedy.”

After sharing his thoughts on some of his most memorable stories which included covering the various championship runs of the New York Knicks, New York Yankees and the New York Football Giants, Mr. Araton pointed to the 1989 World Series where the San Francisco Giants played the Oakland Athletics as his most memorable story.

“My wife was expecting with our first child, and I was fearful that I would miss the birth,” said Mr. Araton. “I covered a game of the Series in San Francisco and had planned on writing a feature story on the Golden State Warrior’s Guard Chris Mullen who I developed a relationship with when he played high school basketball in Brooklyn. After the interview, I was going to hurry home to be with my wife. As I sat down with Chris — the earth quake hit. It was absolute chaos, and I had to quickly overcome the shock of the situation and do my job as a reporter.”

While answering student questions about the challenges of being a reporter, Mr. Araton explained that having to be away from his family was the most challenging part. “I missed a lot of my sons’ games and other after school activities,” said Mr. Araton. “But, I was also able to bring them to all star games where they got to see some of the greatest athletes playing at the time.”

Later, Mr. Araton returned to the classroom with students where they shared writing samples and he offered words of encouragement, as well as advice on how to better incorporate detail into a story.

“The students, Mr. Feld and myself are grateful to Mr. Araton for taking time out of his busy schedule to talk to us about writing and how he approaches stories,” said Mr. Lhulier. “Writing with your heart and gut as much as your mind is our theme for the year, and I can’t imagine the students having a better example than Mr. Araton’s writing.”