It was a full-circle moment for Kim Bolan, as two Lake Trail Community School journalism students summarized her journalism career Friday afternoon (May 17), decades after she created - and contributed to - the school鈥檚 student newspaper.

For more than 40 years, Bolan, an award-winning journalist for the Vancouver Sun, has been writing articles for the daily newspaper, exposing organized crime in both Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. At the Sid Williams Theatre, Bolan listened to fellow journalists, editors - and aspiring journalists - about her professional accomplishments, as she received the latest spot on the Comox Valley Walk of Achievement.

While Bolan has lived in Vancouver during her professional life, she grew up in Courtenay and recalled her time working on the student newspaper at Lake Trail and G.P. Vanier.

鈥淲e started the newspaper (at Lake Trail). I remember sitting in the library at the old school 鈥� it was called the Lion Tracks. We were planning on how we were going to do this. I was hoping to cover things like 鈥榬ogue bookcase kills 10鈥� and make things up, but then I had to cover things at school like council, sports and how the teams are doing.鈥�

At Vanier, she credits Brent Reid with his lessons on the importance of community news when she wrote for the Stockum Pipeline. She broadened her scope to articles about the school published in the Comox District Free Press (the Green Sheet) and also wrote Comox Valley stories for the Times Colonist in Victoria.

Bolan noted she took over delivering her brother鈥檚 newspaper route when her family lived on Urquhart Avenue, and always knew she wanted to work for the Vancouver Sun.

鈥淪o to work as a journalist, it was my dream job - and it still is, 40 years later.鈥�

Bolan has received various accolades and awards for her work, which includes her investigation into the Air India bombing, her coverage of gang violence and organized crime and most recently received funding from the Lieutenant Governor鈥檚 Journalism Fellowship for an in-depth series on Canada鈥檚 role in transnational organized crime.

The Comox Valley Walk of Achievement honours remarkable individuals from the Comox Valley whose profound impact transcends their professional and personal sphere.

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