Currents in Literacy

Student Newspaper Spreads the Word at Hardy School

By Ellyn Ruthstrom

As the Project Manager of the Hood Children's Literacy Project, and Editor of Currents in Literacy, I was looking for a way to have more contact with the children in our Hood schools. When the principal of the Hardy School in Arlington, Barbara Fischer Long, introduced me to the five enthusiastic fourth graders who were interested in working on a student newspaper, I knew I had found the way to do that. At that first meeting, the students brainstormed and chose The Hardy Times as its title, discussed the various kinds of writing that would go into the paper, and chose their own first writing assignments. While we were talking, one of the students drew a wonderful illustration of a newspaper boy for a flyer to publicize the newspaper to the rest of the school. The marketing paid off.

At the second meeting, we barely had enough space in the room to fit all of the interested writers. Over twenty-five children filled the chairs and sat in every available floor space, and several stopped by to say they wanted to write but couldn't stay for the meeting. Students from the first through fifth grade were represented, and all were eager to be reporters.

Luckily for me, there was also a parent at that meeting, Alison Harris, who volunteered to help me out with the newspaper. Along with having a background in publishing, Alison sees the newspaper as an important part of the fiber of the school community that her daughter moved into this year. Alison helps run each meeting with the students and she occasionally is able to help input the student's work on the computer and plan the layout with me.

The first issue came together quickly and was only a two-sided sheet. It consisted of one interview, two reviews, a personal story, and a piece about the construction at the school (including photos of the kids with the foreman of the construction site). After that issue reached each classroom -- over 400 copies are distributed -- there were even more kids at the next meeting! Everyone wanted to write for the paper. And soon different kinds of articles were being submitted: poetry, personal experiences, illustrations, cartoons, games, and more reviews of books, movies, and plays. Each issue is now at least four pages; one month it was six pages.

As the different sections came into form, the students named each one. The most original is the interview section, which the students chose to call "Views Right Through." We also have a Poetry Corner, Arts & Entertainment, Personal Points, and Brainteasers.

While we only have thirty minutes right after school to meet, we try to use the time as best we can. We now have a schedule of twice a month meetings. Usually the first meeting of the month is to stoke up article ideas and think about what will be happening in the school that they might want to report about. Alison and I talk to each student individually about what their own interests are and if they would like to do the piece alone or with others.

Articles are then due at the principal's office before the second meeting of the month. At that meeting, the students who have already submitted are asked to read over their articles to make any final corrections and then they can leave. Students who still want to write something are encouraged to sit right down and work on it. Some students come in with their ideas and are ready to put pencil to paper right away. Many students want to co-author their pieces with one or two others and they use the time to either think up their interview questions or to talk over their projects with their friends. At one meeting, three students sat together and composed their article and were ready to read it to the whole group at the end of the half hour.

While time does not allow us to do the layout as a group, I have asked the students for their feedback and they have made suggestions that I have heeded. For example, they really like to have a brainteaser on the front page. They certainly know the importance of being on the front page, and many of them lobby to have their own articles put there.

When they do writing in the meeting, I supply them with paper with The Hardy Times masthead on it so that they feel connected to the final product in some way. I recently began handing out small notebooks to each student who comes to the meeting, explaining to them that it is a Reporter's Notebook to help them with their articles. I'd like them to think about the notebook as a place for article ideas, for drafts of articles, and also for them to just free write in it if they feel like it.

There are some students who come back week after week and they submit for each issue. Others drop in and out and might only have an interest in writing on one topic. I have found that because it is an extra-curricular activity for them, the students don't like to be assigned articles, they much prefer to come up with their own ideas. And that really is the larger goal of the newspaper. To encourage the students to see themselves as writers and reporters on the important aspects of their own lives and to be able to express that to others.

Ellyn Ruthstrom is a writer and editor and the Project Manager for the Hood Children's Literacy Project.