Student Journalists Thrive in CCES Newspaper Club

Published May 10, 2017

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The students at Clovercroft Elementary School have news to share.

Every Friday since in January, 29 students have gathered together prior to school to have the weekly staff meeting for the CCES Today student newspaper. It is there that reporters, reviewers, photographers and editors have worked to submit, review and edit articles and pictures as well as discuss upcoming stories.

Now in its second year, the student newspaper club churns out three issues a year containing content entirely written and edited by fourth and fifth grade students.

“It’s surprising to me the things that they go out and find and want to write about,” club sponsor and CCES literacy coach Jenn Dozier said. “Some of them are really creative so the short stories they come up with are amazing.”

The club provides a fun outlet for the group of creative students, but it also teaches them several real world skills.

“I’ve learned a lot about teamwork and how everyone plays a part because everyone does an article,” said fifth grade editor Raya Whitlock. “I also love working with the other three editors on trying to make the newspaper better.”

Editing is no joke either. Every student on staff must have a fellow club member read their work before they’re allowed to submit it.

“They peer-edit before they turn it in so they have another club member read it first,” Dozier said. “It’s been really great for them to see what it’s like to read a friend’s article and offer suggestions on how to make it better.”

Some students really enjoy the freedom to pursue articles they’re passionate about as well as the opportunity to laugh and learn with friends.

“I love that I can write about whatever I want,” said fourth grade reporter Lily Sokolowski. “A lot of times we can laugh about our stories. We also tell each other what we’ve done wrong and help one another.”

Others love the interview process.

“I love doing the interviews and interacting with the teachers and kids,” said fifth grade reporter Andrew Dillard. “I think it’s a really fun experience.”

And the students have improved from their first year experiences.

“Last year I did most of the work putting it together, but this year my editors do everything,” Dozier said. “They came up with the template and they go through and edit all the stories.”

CCES Today has already produced two editions of its paper this year, with a third and final issue slated to come out this week.

“I’m really excited about this issue because we are doing a farewell to fifth graders thing that I’m helping with,” Whitlock said. “I’m also excited that we are going to end the year with a large paper and do it right.”

Because interest in the paper has been so high, CCES has added a summer newspaper club to their summer Encore camp schedule.

And while some students may dread spending time in school during their summer vacation, this group couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to keep improving their product.

“I love it,” Dillard said. “I’ll never regret this. This is awesome.”