brad.spiegel@waylandpost.org
Is the next Joseph Pulitzer, Bob Woodward, or Grantland Rice in our midst? Honestly, we won’t know that for quite some time.
There are, however, four friends at Claypit Hill Elementary School who have kept the resurrected Claypit Hill News alive with interviews, games, art, trivia, book recommendations, event coverage, and more in a consistent publication that’s loved by classmates, school staff, and parents.
Fifth-graders Areni Craig, Caroline Traina, Marla Polat, and Kira Fullerton have taken on the responsibility of the student newspaper and are having a great time. They may not be studying journalism in college in eight years, or writing for The Boston Globe or New York Times (or the Wayland Post) but it’s something they truly enjoy doing.
“I think it’s definitely fun having the power to write things that we like and do the research,” said Areni. “When we see someone holding the newspaper, it just makes us happy that they’re reading it. Even if they don’t necessarily like it, it’s just nice to know that they have something more to read.”
Marla agreed that elementary-age kids who are looking at their paper may become voracious readers.
“I think it’s cool to introduce them to reading something because when you get older, you’re gonna be reading things like magazines or newspapers — things that aren’t just books that you see on shelves in the library,” she said.
It’s not just the four friends who are responsible for populating the paper. Others at the school contribute with art and stories, and the girls even set up a drop-off folder for anyone who wishes to be published.
“I love how we all can all contribute to make something that every single person can read during the day,” Caroline added.
Third-grade and special education teacher Stacey Laudenslager contributes as the de facto editor. She is amazed at the gusto the girls show.
“When I first met the girls, I couldn’t believe how strong and ambitious they were,” Laudenslager said. “They work so well together…
They’ve identified their own strengths and contributed their own thing and it has come together so nicely. That’s what’s magical about this group.”
It wasn’t easy filling up the paper at first. But as they finished more editions, they figured out what worked and what didn’t.
“The first one, we were really looking for something to fill up the space,” Kira said. “About two or three editions in, we started doing how-to-draw, Sudoku, and finding the different emojis.”
The Claypit Hill News started back up last year after more than a decade with a dormant press (or, more accurately, printer). Five students then in fourth grade (Wyatt Griffin, Carter Matthews, Teddy Norton, Matias Fam, and Ethan Riffle) decided on a whim to educate their classmates with a newspaper.
Carter explained that last year, with so many indoor recesses, he and his friends were bored doing the same thing. He said Teddy asked if he wanted to start a newspaper. The first “edition” was no more than a blue piece of construction paper with the weather on it. It stayed in Carter’s desk for a couple of months before it was brought up again.
“Carter and I thought, what if we actually did it?” Matthews said. “We then asked [Wyatt, Matias, and Ethan] and they said they wanted to do it.”
After a couple of editions, the boys found that many classmates wanted to be in the paper with their own artwork, mazes, and other contributions.
“I want to say it was the fourth edition that we got into interviewing,” Carter said. “We interviewed teachers and that really worked.”
“These kids are really getting a lot of good life skills,” Laudenslager said. “They’re talking to many different people, both in and out of school. They collaborate with each other and the community. It’s quite impressive.”
