Third-graders tour Press, learn about newspapers
LOREN BENOIT/Press Coeur d’Alene Press assistant managing editor Andy Obermueller gives a lesson to a group of third grade students from Northwest Expedition Academy on how to write a news article. The students visited the Coeur d’Alene Press on Tuesday.
Nearly 60 third-graders from Northwest Expedition Academy in Hayden visited The Press on Tuesday morning to learn about how the newspaper is made each day.
The students learned that a newspaper has five departments: Editorial is where reporters, photographers and editors work to create the newspaper’s content. Advertising is where the sales team works with customers who wish to promote their businesses. Circulation handles delivery, and the business office takes care of all the paperwork. The fifth department is production, which includes the printing press and other machines, which the students got to see in action.
The press is loud, and the pressroom smells like ink and paper. The students enjoyed seeing the massive rolls of newsprint, which are 17,000 feet long. That works out to more than three miles. Those who didn’t want to be reporters seemed to like the idea of driving the pressroom forklift, which can stack the heavy rolls almost 30 feet in the air. The paper is made in Spokane.
The students learned that a news story contains five critical elements: Who, what, when, where and how or why. They discussed what made something newsworthy and why it was important for the local newspaper to keep the community informed. “Community” means a group of people who care about each other. A neighborhood, by contrast, is a group of people who live near one another.
“I like how you get to write stories that are true,” said Z., who is 8 and a half years old.
C. came with a big job in mind. He said he wanted to learn how to write a newspaper. G., a classmate, said the third-graders would use what they learned on their trip to The Press to write their own newspapers, which will focus on their family heritage. Heritage is a big word that means “things that were passed down to me.”
The students conducted an experimental opinion poll about their favorite foods. Pizza was the overwhelming favorite of 66.6 percent, or two-thirds of the students. Nearly 25 percent said their favorite food was a burger. A little more than 10 percent preferred macaroni and cheese.
Northwest Expedition Academy engages in hands-on learning outside the traditional classroom setting. “They make it so learning is funner,” said V., 8 years old.
The students are taught by Ms. Posey and Ms. Vickers.