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Young journalists learning how to get 'scoop'
Published November 14, 2008
WALTON COUNTY — Some newshounds have been known to develop a nose for a good story at quite a young age and some of the youngest in this area can be found in the “newsroom” of Sharon News, a publication out of Sharon Elementary School in Loganville.
Gifted education teacher Roger Lamadrid has combined his previous education and experience in journalism, while in the military and in the newspaper business, with his love of teaching and is grooming a whole new generation of journalists from the grassroots level.
“It’s so exiting to see what they can do,” Lamadrid said of the fourth- and fifth-grade students in his multi-media journalism class. “They have outperformed expectations. They are gifted writers and photographers and have embraced journalism.”
The fruits of Lamadrid and his students’ labor can be found on the Web at www.sharonnews.org, where students get to explore their talents for all forms of modern media from print to broadcast journalism. The students also publish www.jaguarnews.org, a monthly literacy e-Magazine maintained and edited by the fifth-grade gifted education students.
“We have our multi-media journalism class every day from 8:35 to 9:20 a.m.,” said Lamadrid. “We split up into two groups — one group works on the broadcast end in the media center with Janis Taylor and the other group comes to me to work on the online school newspaper.”
The students get to write the stories, take the pictures, write and tape video broadcasts and participate in the editing, maintaining and publishing of the two Web sites, giving them the opportunity to learn about all aspects of the multi-media industry.
A large screen, known as the “Smartscreen,” allows students to make changes in front of the class, giving other students the opportunity to follow along at the same time. Lamadrid edits the stories with each student, teaching them about the need to “hook” the reader from the first paragraph, the differences between news and persuasive writing and helping them with grammar and the correct Associated Press style. They are also learning the business aspects of publishing with some advertising likely to be necessary to help fund the publications.
“When the next class starts, this first group of students will become editors and they will help edit and teach the new group of students,” Lamadrid said.
SES is only the third elementary school in the state using the School Newspapers Online program and one of the few even in the nation where elementary school students publish an online newspaper. Lamadrid said he believes in time every school will have some form of online newspaper but he is excited about getting his students involved at the outset — and the students share his enthusiasm.
“I like it when I hear people at school talking about the Web site or when your friends go online to read what’s on there,” said fourth-grade student Rachel Silver, 10.
“I like interviewing people and getting to know them,” said another fourth-grader, Allison Hill, who is 9 years old.
“I’ve wanted to do this ever since I was little,” said Katelyn Neeley, 10, who is also in fourth grade.
For 9-year-old Austin Freeman, another fourth-grader, it’s the broadcast aspect of journalism that has his attention.
“I like to be on television,” he said.
A visit to CNN studios and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is in the works for students.
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