These Bergen fourth graders are starting a newspaper. Here's what they, and I, learned
ENGLEWOOD — A new batch of dogged reporters have hit the scene ready to uncover the truth and serve their community.
As long as they can do it before bedtime.
Fourth graders at Elisabeth Morrow School learned this month that their next assignment will be starting their own newspaper. The student-led paper will be made for the school community and serve as an introduction to journalism.
To kick off the project, school staff invited me to tell the students about life in the news business. It seemed like a good opportunity to get involved in the community, and who doesn't like the chance to sound like an expert for a little while, so I was glad to accept.
The group of about 45 students gathered around as I broke the news that their next assignment would be to make their own paper. As a pleasant surprise, they seemed excited by the prospect.
Josh Becker, the teacher who introduced me to the students, said the fourth graders are excited to present a product for their whole school community.
"The fact that they have real ownership of the process and choice in content gives them a sense of pride," Becker said, "of being leaders and decision-makers of the community."
The students will name their paper themselves. There's no set deadline to complete their newspaper (a flexibility many reporters wish for at times) so that the pace of the lessons can dictate the publication date.
With my trusty PowerPoint presentation, I told the cub reporters about what we publish in The Record, what I do as a breaking news and public safety editor and some of the fundamentals of journalism.
While the students were excited about their newspaper project, it paled in comparison with their reaction to seeing MrBeast in my presentation. I included a slide about celebrity sightings in North Jersey with a photo from MrBeast's visit to American Dream in September for his restaurant opening. I wanted to highlight a celebrity the kids would know and clearly made the right choice, since half the students' questions were about MrBeast (until their teacher requested questions about anything but MrBeast).
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Once we switched subjects, the students asked some poignant questions that kept me on my toes. The most challenging of them asked "isn't it annoying" when reporters show up at the scene of a tragedy? It's something we grapple with all the time and a delicate balance, I explained, to be respectful while finding out the information we need to tell our readers.
Becker said they hope running the newspaper will help teach students literacy, life skills and vocabulary through cooperative brainstorming for stories that the school community would want to read.
The Englewood students may not have to deal with sources who won't call back or respond to their OPRA requests, but the months ahead should still give them a glimpse of what it's like to put together a newspaper. Hopefully they still have that same level of enthusiasm by the end of the project.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Englewood NJ students starting their own newspaper as a learning tool
