SIMMONS ELEMENTARY journalism students are pictured with their Woodford County High School student mentor, Katherine Rannenberg, the co-editor-in-chief and copy editor of the Jacket Journal. From left, flanking Katherine, are fourth graders Wesley Stephens, Brendan Wood, Cora Gonzalez and Octavio Sandoval. Each is holding a copy of the inaugural edition of Simmons Fourth Grade Times. (Photo by Elaine Bailey)
Upon returning from this year’s winter break, 60 Simmons Elementary fourth grade students were greeted with a new opportunity in their curriculum: the introduction of the Fourth Grade Times, a self-produced newspaper filled with stories written by their fellow students.
Split across three classes, each young writer was instructed on the formatting and writing of an article that represented their interests, and from “How to Care for Cows” to “The Life of Catherine O’Hara,” their passions quickly showed through.
Producing a newspaper without experience is a daunting task, and despite student and teacher enthusiasm, some outside assistance was needed. This help, through a collaboration between Woodford County High School’s Digital Journalism instructor Renee Boss and Simmons fourth grade leader Emily Wiley, came in the form of eight high school journalists who assisted with the research, structure and development of the students’ budding ideas.
It turned out that all the writers needed was a bit of guidance for their articles to truly shine, as the framework for fantastic ideas was already in place.
“The high school helpers helped my writing piece make sense,” said Kendra Cruz Disciplina, a member of one of the participating classes, who wrote a front-page column about the importance of recess in elementary schools. “It was really hard work, but I enjoyed it.”
“Hard” is certainly no overstatement—journalistic writing is an entirely different process from the paragraph format fourth grade students are used to—and yet, despite the difficulties, they progressed with a vigor alongside their high school help.
“You have to really think about [journalism], and it takes a lot of patience. Practice and patience make perfect,” said Livia Owens, whose article compiled information about black widow spiders.
“It usually takes a lot of research, and you can’t just put info you already know down,” added Sebastian Ore, who wrote about the science of resurrecting mammoths.
Both Owens and Ore emphasized the development they felt in their writing and the confidence they gained from their time learning from older journalists. That progress isn’t in their imagination, either.
As Wiley noted: “We’ve definitely noticed improvement in our students’ writing since starting the project … It’s been such a meaningful and engaging project, and we’ve seen a lot of growth because of it.”
The Fourth Grade Times was excitedly delivered to classrooms all around Simmons in late March. The elation from the students and high school helpers was met by grateful recipients, many of whom accepted the papers with a comment about how impressive the “paper” was. The articles were polished; the topics were personal—and there was even a games section at the end filled with mazes, word searches and jokes created by the young writers.
When it was time for the WCHS journalists to leave after the final session, they were met with hugs, thanks and a promise of future projects.
“We would really like to continue building the collaboration with the high school journalism program,” said Wiley. “It’s been a great opportunity for our students to connect with older peers and see what real-world writing can look like.”
The experience of helping younger students with their writing made one thing abundantly clear to the WCHS journalists: the creativity and determination of these small reporters were unmatched. Their subjects and styles were not only mature for their young ages, but also inspiring in their execution.
The high school student journalists found that they received a lesson from the Simmons students, just as the Simmons students did from them: Passion knows no bounds, especially in the hands of the young. Going forward, both groups will take with them the memory of the fun they had and the stories they shared.
Editor’s Note: This story is the product of the school system’s “Portrait of a Learner” partnership between the Sun and WCHS teacher Renee Boss’ journalism class, in which the Sun works with students to write and publish news stories. Katherine Rannenberg is the co-editor-in-chief and copy editor of the Jacket Journal.