Students contribute to Newspapers In Education project

     The Star-Herald is celebrating the 13th anniversary of publishing the Newspapers In Education supplement. And making what is traditionally described as the diamond event shine this year are a large group of area students from fifth to 12th grade, representing approximately nine schools.
The use of newspapers by the youth of our nation dates back over 200 years to a publication in southern Maine, according to many online references, including the New York Times, which states, “The earliest known reference to newspapers as tools for learning appeared in the Portland Eastern Herald of Maine on June 8, 1795, from which an excerpt reads as follows: ‘Much has been said and written on the utility of newspapers; but one principal advantage which might be derived from these publications has been neglected; we mean that of reading them in schools, and by the children in families. Try it for one session. Do you wish your child to improve in reading solely, give him a newspaper; it furnishes a variety, some parts of which must indelibly touch his fancy. Do you wish to instruct him in geography, nothing will so indelibly fix the relative situation of different places, as the stories and events published in the papers. In time, do you wish to have him acquainted with the manners of the country or city, the mode of doing business, public or private; or do you wish him to have a smattering of every kind of science useful and amusing, give him a newspaper. Newspapers are plenty and cheap, the cheapest book that can be bought, and the more you buy the better for your children, because every part furnishes valuable information.'”
Newspapers In Education has evolved over the years, with hundreds of publications working with schools throughout the United States to promote learning in all fields of study. The Star-Herald is one such publication, providing free subscriptions to the fifth-grade classes who add their creative talents to the annual project.
Teachers in the following schools had their students put their imagination to the test, creating ads for this year’s supplement: Robin Norsworthy, Cheryl Martin, Jennifer York and June Bagley at Zippel Elementary School in Presque Isle; Christie Doyen at Mapleton Elementary School; Michelle Beaulier and Marissa Post at Ashland District School; Jay McKenney and John Ala at Fort Fairfield Elementary School; Jennifer Langille and Kim Worcester at the David J. Lyon Washburn District Elementary School; Lori McQuade at Easton Elementary School; Jennifer Mahan and Kristen Lagasse at Fort Street Elementary School in Mars Hill; and Callie Faulkner at Cornerstone Christian Academy.
The project served multiple purposes, teaching such skills as language and punctuation; geography, as students learned the locations of the businesses they were assigned in various communities; art and graphic design; and economics, as the children discussed the various products and services their works represented and the customers who would be interested in those businesses.
The supplement has grown since its first publication 10 years ago, expanding from elementary student ads only to include works from students in junior high and high school. This year’s NIE project incorporates “I Am” poems about Mexico from Presque Isle Middle School students in Casey Johnson’s sixth-grade class, an article written by two PIMS eighth-graders about a recent Civil War book talk, and photographs from high school students in Amy White’s digital photography class at the Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center. There are also photos by Jennifer Buzza from Presque Isle High School’s Deck the Halls and Winter Carnival events.
Thanks to everyone — from students to teachers and business owners — who helped make the 2014 edition of Newspapers In Education a huge success.