- Parker Penn,
Sixth grader, Epiphany Catholic School
NORMAL – As part of their efforts to continue advancing in technology and academics, Epiphany Catholic School produces its own online newspaper, The Knightly News, written entirely by junior high students.
Sarah Vaughn, former Epiphany teacher, developed the idea for a newspaper class last year during which students began writing their own stories. In her first year teaching at Epiphany, Nicole Rickert took over for Vaughn and is now in charge of the newspaper and morning announcements delivered on video by the students.
“The newspaper class is very valuable to the students because they are able to learn reporting skills and to write informational stories. I think it is also important that they learn how to write for a specific audience, and it also keeps them up on current events,” Rickert said.
The newspaper class has 16 sixth to eighth grade contributors who are able to work alone or in pairs when writing their stories. Students are not graded on the context of their stories, but rather on their participation and completion of stories. They are also given the opportunity to work with different forms of technology such as Flip video cameras and iPads in the classroom.
“I really like writing stories and having people tell me they are good, and I want to continue to take reporting classes in high school and in college,” sixth grader Parker Penn said. In addition to Rickert, the newspaper class has also recruited the help of two ISU students who assist in the classroom throughout the week. Once a student finishes a story, either an ISU student or another teacher edits the story to be published.
ISU senior Tim Johnston reads over stories and is available to help students during their study hall. “I hope I have given them some valuable feedback and helped them improve their writing,” Johnston said. Students have the freedom to pick their own topics and sources for their stories.
“I think I have become a better writer. Newspaper class makes me think outside-the-box and I am very happy everyone gets to see my stories,” sixth grader Nick Schell said. “My favorite story that I have written so far is when I compared different NFL teams. I like to voice my opinion and write it in my story.”
The newspaper class was initiated at Epiphany through the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Education Coalition initiative that students are required to be a part of. The STEM Education Coalition works to raise awareness in Congress and other organizations about the critical role that STEM education plays in enabling the U.S. to remain the economic and technological leader of the global marketplace of the 21st century."This is the second year of using the program at Epiphany. We changed STEM into STEAM because we wanted to incorporate the arts. The newspaper falls under that category,” Rickert said.
In 2011, Epiphany was one of 49 schools to be named a 2011 National Blue Ribbon School, largely due to the school’s success in providing students with opportunities such as the newspaper class. National Blue Ribbon schools are recognized as being committed to accelerating student achievement and preparing students for success in high school and college.
The Knightly News is an online-only publication and may be accessed at www.epiphanynews.com.