How they became front-page news

In The Wind

Mark DeLap
Posted 12/1/21

Guernsey students - Mark DeLap column

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How they became front-page news

In The Wind

Posted

Mrs. Stephanie Smith emailed me about a month ago and informed me that her students were getting a special snack and bingo party because they had reached their goal of reading 100 books before St. Patrick’s Day.

The first grade joined the Rally to Read 100 books before Read Across America Day which is scheduled for 2022 March 2. They not only achieved this goal, but the students accepted the challenge and reached their goal before Halloween!

“We have a new goal to reach 300 books by Saint Patrick's day,” said Guernsey-Sunrise first grade teacher Stephanie Smith. “If they do that, we are going to reward the students with a pizza party.”

According to the Rally to Read website, “Rally to Read 100 is OUR rally cry to YOU! Join Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) to foster a love of reading for children across the country. Celebrating 56 years of supporting children’s literacy and reaching the milestone of serving our 100 millionth child, RIF and our partners want to unite our nation’s children to read.

“There is no better time to rally for reading! Take the pledge to read 100 books (a class, family, student or anyone can take the pledge), tune in each month for read-alouds and activities featuring amazing authors and illustrators, and be sure to enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win 100 books for your school or organization.”

Two weeks ago, the students posed for a picture and that picture was placed on the front page of the Guernsey Gazette. Mrs. Smith and I had intentions of a small story, but then as the ideas grew and we watched how much the kids enjoyed it, we took it a step further.

I came back after the publication came out in print and last Tuesday I got to take a copy of the Gazette and present it to each student who was part of the story. There is something about owning your own newspaper, but when your face is on the front page, well, I can imagine that being saved in hope chests for years to come.

As I had the chance to come back to hand out the papers, I then had the idea of a little teaching about how “an idea becomes published in the news.” It was a day when we came up with ideas on how to use old papers, and even the ads to cut out and make colorful murals.

We talked about the ideas people come up with and then what do people do when they get “great ideas” and perhaps an idea so great that it becomes news.

I got a chance to walk them through the process of the idea being passed to the reporter and then the photographer and the work it takes to create and retell the story. We walked through the word processing station, the graphics department, the editing department and then finally to the printer, the distributor, the paper deliverers and right up unto the reading of the finished product.

I hadn’t taught for a while, and the questions were so insightful and so heartfelt at that age. It was a great time to bond with another generation with the hopes of causing them to fall in love with the romance of reading a paper like it once was…  way back when.