Tessa Mayne undertakes video interviews

Some of the many people she has interviewed include Maryville Mayor Rachael Martin, Mosaic Medical Center – Maryville Administrator Nate Blackford and Eugene Field Elementary School Principal Philip Pohren.

By Kathryn Rice

Nine-year-old Tessa Mayne has stayed busy through the school shutdown because of COVID-19 by trying out what she one day wants to become, a television news anchor.

Tessa, the daughter of Kortney and Chad Mayne, has made Maryville her home for almost two years. She has an older brother, Connor, who is 13. The family has two dogs, a Vizsla named Bo, and a Silky Terrier named Marley.

Tessa is looking forward to fourth grade at Eugene Field Elementary School this coming fall. Highlights will be her friends, Chloe and McCoy, and physical education class in the gym because of the games played.

Tessa’s journey to be a video interviewer started when Tessa and her mom filmed Tessa’s interview with a college-age neighbor about how the coronavirus was affecting her and her plans to graduate. Her mom posts the completed videos online to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Tessa uses a long wand to help her and her subject to maintain social distancing.

People liked the interview, so Tessa decided to continue to entertain people with the approximate five-minute segments.

Kortney remarked the community has been supportive of Tessa’s interviews and people have reached out to her to volunteer for interviews. Some of her subjects have included Maryville Mayor Rachael Martin, Mosaic Medical Center – Maryville President Nate Blackford, the Nodaway County commissioners and Eugene Field Elementary School Principal Philip Pohren.

Pohren was Tessa’s principal at Field Elementary School in Chillicothe, Kortney said. The Pohrens moved to Maryville the same year as the Maynes.

KMBC-TV in Kansas City has played two of Tessa’s videos, after noticing them on Twitter. A reporter has interviewed Tessa and then was the subject of one of Tessa’s. A second cousin made three polos for Tessa and a mircrophone with the KMBC logo, to give her a professional appearance for her interviews. The television station has invited Tessa to tour it, hopefully, later in the summer when COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.

One of her goals is to interview Missouri Governor Mike Parson by the end of the summer. She has sent a request and video to the governor’s office. She also wants to interview the president one day.

Besides more interviews this summer, Tessa plans to swim as much as possible, even if the pool doesn’t open, play with her dogs and take hip-hop dance class at Miss Whitney’s Elite School of Dance with her friends.

To view Tessa’s interviews, go to Facebook: Kortney Buerky Mayne; Twitter: @KortneyMayne; and Youtube: The World According To Tessa.