ROSEBORO — Middle school students charged with writing, designing and editing the new Lakewood District newspaper got their first lessons in the who, what, where, when and why last week as the 23 sixth, seventh and eighth graders learned interview techniques and the development of stories.
The Roseboro-Salemburg Middle group, now officially called the Junior Reporters Club, meet Wednesdays and, as a team, are tasked with producing many of the stories that will appear in what they recently named The Leopard Leader, an eight-page insert that will appear in The Sampson Independent newspaper four times during the school year.
The first edition is set to publish on Oct. 21.
The club is part of the new Lakewood Community Literacy Partnership, funded through Simple Gifts in partnership with the Sampson Independent, which provides a local newspaper to the over 1,900 students, faculty and staff at the four local schools each Wednesday. Students, in turn, take their newspaper home each week to their parents and guardians so they, too, can be informed about happenings within their district and the county.
Two weeks in, club members were learning the journlistic ropes, first coming up with the name of their new publication and, last week, getting lessons on how to conduct an interview.
Using a PowerPoint presentation, program coordinator Carla Sutton, with a little help from Sampson Independent publisher Sherry Matthews and art teacher Jemeikka Jasso Steele, showed students the difference between static questions that often lead to one-word responses and the open-ended ones which are conversation-starters.
Students watched intently as Sutton displayed both sets of questions and then quickly responded to the ones they thought were the best ones to use when conducting an interview.
“That’s great,” Sutton cheered as the students each time correctly chose the better of the two scenarios presented.
Lesson over, the students, new reporter pads at the ready — a gift from Matthews — interviewed one another, asking a series of questions before having the tables turned on them as the interviewer became the interviewee.
“I was impressed with how quickly they caught on, and how intent they were when working on the assignment,” Matthews said.
The room abuzz with conversation quieted as Sutton asked each one to utlize the notes they had taken to then write a two to three paragraph story about the person they interviewed.
In quick order, students began the task at hand, wrapping up before the end-of-class bell rang.
“They met their first deadline without breaking a sweat,” Matthews asserted.
Sutton, too, was impressed with how quickly the students engaged with their first lesson in journalism. “I was very pleased with how quickly they picked up what we were telling them and then put it into practice.”
The middle-schoolers said they were enjoying the new club. “It’s really exciting to be a part of this,” noted seventh-grader Kayden Ribar.
Classmate Layla Colosky, a sixth-grader agreed. “It’s already been a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see what we do next.”
Today, students will break into groups, with editors reading over the stories written a week ago, tweaking the copy and adding headlines and reporters being given a chance to hone their newly-discovered skills a little more by interviewing school staff for additional stories they will write. All the material will appear in the first edition of the Leopard Leader.
Literacy Partnership
In the two weeks since newspapers have been provided to students, educators at all four Lakewood schools said it had been interesting to see young people engaging with the print edition.
On week one, many students were seen in the library engrossed in a story or showing one another photos of themselves that had appeared in that day’s edition.
At the elementary school, youngsters were using the Kids Page to review words and color that day’s featured picture; and, at the middle school students were not only reading the newspaper but sharing its contents.
One teacher remarked that one of her students, on their way to lunch, pointed to the newly installed metal detectors, explaining their cost and saying he had found that information in the newspaper he had been reading.
“It’s been wonderful,” said Lakewood educator Heather Tew.
Matthews agreed.
“I was blown away when I was at Lakewood High on that first morning the papers were delivered. I actually saw teenagers, unprompted, walking down the hall reading the paper.”
Matthews reiterated her appreciation to Simple Gifts for the partnership that made this possible and noted her belief that if people will read their local newspaper it will draw them closer to their community as a whole, show them services offered and give them insight into all “the many, many good things going on in their schools.”
“A local newspaper connects community, informs a community and promotes community,” the SI publisher stressed. “I’m thrilled so many people in the Lakewood district are getting the opportunity to refresh their memories about why a local newspaper is so important to us all.”