‘Kids telling kids’: News crew delivers the facts

Northview — Alexis Dykema remembers when the idea came to her.

The sixth-grader was in homeroom at Highlands Middle School last fall, watching HTV — the school’s televised, student-hosted morning announcements — when she noticed an image of a newspaper on the wall. 

“I was like, why don’t we have a newspaper (at Highlands)?” she recalled. “We have HTV, but only four kids get to do that. … I wanted a club that more people could be a part of, that was kind of like (HTV) to tell (others) about things at Highlands, and I was thinking a newspaper would be a good option, because I personally like typing and writing.

“And for equality, my main idea was that we have something included for everyone in the newspaper, and that way it will get more students (to read it). … The goal in this is, ‘What is your hobby, and how can we put that in the newspaper?’”

Alexis isn’t just a big thinker; she’s a doer, too. After teaming up with teacher Marli Oliver and another friend, they spent a few months brainstorming, strategizing and advertising the club, which launched in January. And in February, the very first issue of the Highlands Newspaper came out, both in print and online.

“I just loved the idea of kids who wanted to stay after school and write, because I teach English,” said Oliver, who serves as the paper’s adviser and editor. A newspaper for the building, she explained, “has been a good way for fifth grade to know what sixth grade is doing, and vice versa. We’re the only two grades in the building, but we can be very separate, so I see this as helping.”

‘Kids telling kids’

Alexis’ vision for the paper, she said, was to have student reporters speak directly to their peers about school happenings. 

“I think kids telling kids is sometimes more efficient than (hearing from) adults,” she said. “Teachers will tell you about something, but later, if other kids say, ‘Hey, I’m going to be in this club; do you want to join?’ I think that makes kids more motivated to do things.” 

Fittingly, the content is mostly student-led, though Oliver does help them with the calendar, collects story ideas from fellow teachers to share with her cub reporters, and acts as the final vote of approval. 

And, though she always keeps it fun, Oliver has snuck in some writing lessons along the way. The reporters have learned how to incorporate direct quotes into an article, how to write a professional email, how to convert an interview into a story, and much more.

“I don’t ever want it to be too much like a class assignment, but what’s great is that, with me teaching sixth-grade English, I know their strengths and I know what they’ve already been taught,” Oliver said. “I can just remind them of the comma rule and let them fix it, because they know how to fix it. … Even the growth just between February and March was unreal. They really stepped up.” 

Oliver shared copyediting duties this past semester with sixth-grader Addy H., who served as student editor for the Highlands Newspaper team. In this role, Addy corrected spelling and punctuation mistakes, provided feedback on rough drafts, and helped her peers with questions or if they got stuck while writing. 

“It’s a lot of pressure, because I have to do a good job — I can’t just read something and be, like, ‘whatever’ and then move on to something else,” said Addy of her responsibilities. “I have to take my time and work paragraph by paragraph. And it’s hard, because I’ll be writing my own article and then somebody needs my help and I have to go back and forth, and my article usually gets finished last.

“But I love it,” she added. “I like to talk to (the reporter) and ask them why they’re interested in the article. … I just like connecting with the people who are doing the writing.” 

Legacy News

Over the course of the semester, Highlands Newspaper news writer and sixth-grader Sam Davenport wrote articles including a “get to know the newspaper staff” Q&A, footnotes for a book report, a “student of the month” feature and a piece on teachers’ unique facial hair. 

He said the paper’s deadlines can be stressful at times, but he enjoys hearing feedback on what he’s written. 

“It makes me very happy to see people reading it, but also, when I hear back from people it allows me to know what I should do differently,” Sam said. “The first (article), I definitely used too big of words — you don’t really want to use big words that people don’t know … because people aren’t really reading the newspaper to wonder or laugh. They’re more reading it to get information. So I toned it down a bit since then.” 

Both Sam and Alexis said one of their favorite days of the month has been publication day, when reporters deliver printed copies to each classroom and the digital copy is emailed to students, teachers, staff and parents. 

When the first issue came out in February, Sam was so proud of their efforts that he made sure to have every reporter sign his copy.

“I felt good that we had started something and it turned out so good,” he said. 

In preparation for next year, Alexis and the rest of the original staff interviewed and selected next year’s staff from a large group of interested fifth-graders. Those fifth-graders joined the staff for the last two months of the school year to learn the ropes.

Alexis said she’s glad to know the work of Highlands Newspaper will continue. 

“I love that my idea is actually putting a lot of interest into our school, and that it’s not just me that likes it, but most kids in the school are actually enjoying it,” she said. “I think it’s amazing that we can make that big of a difference.” 

Read more from Northview: 
• Hands-on math class shows surprising results
• Her passion: advocating for ‘that one kid’