On Friday, our student journalists had a great opportunity to pass along their knowledge. Students from Barton, Medford, Bay and Canaan Elementary Schools, as well as Saxton Middle School, took a field trip to the high school for Junior Journalism Day. Throughout the day, the kids watched our Raider TV broadcast, viewed our site, took a tour of the broadcast room and even wrote their own articles.

“It’s an amazing experience and incredibly important for the kids to get this kind of exposure. We have amazing writers and I think this will help them see that they can take this further in life and past elementary school. I hope this continues,” Mrs. Ricciardi, teacher at Medford Elementary School.

After the buses arrived in the morning, the kids were brought upstairs and given an introduction to our site. They were showed the page online, our different sections and even the latest Raider TV broadcast.

Each school had multiple journalism students and staff writers to guide them throughout the day. The schedules varied but content during the sessions was consistent.

The kids were brought to the broadcast room around the corner with out state of the art equipment, which amazed them. They were able to even get behind the desk, taking the place of our anchors Nicolette and Andrés, and read from a script for the camera.

“My favorite part was going to the broadcast room. When I’m older I really want to become a cameraman,” Peyton, Barton Elementary, 4th grade.

After acting behind the desk, which the kids all enjoyed, they were able to go behind the glass and see how the videos are edited. Once again, the equipment amazed them.

“I liked watching the videos get edited, I make videos at home with my brother. I want to learn more so that they can be best as possible,” Alexa, Barton Elementary, 4th grade.

After leaving the broadcast room, the kids were given pieces of newsprint to brainstorm article ideas. They were amazing when it came to coming up with topics they were passionate about. All of the papers were full of ideas. They were able to talk amongst themselves and our staff who was there to help with articles.

At this point, every student from Bay Elementary claimed they planned to all join our newspaper in the future.

We took a quick break for lunch and before we even had the chance to announce it was over, the kids were back to writing. They say right back down and began planning their articles out on the newsprint.

“I liked making article topics. If we do get a newspaper I’ll already have the ideas,” says Lily, Barton Elementary, 4th grade.

Our last session included breaking out the laptops and having them type. The kids immediately got to work, proud of what they had to say and eager to get it on the computer.

“I think they will take a lot more pride in their work now. I think it’s important for them to be inquisitive as well,” Mr.Beebe, Bay Elementary.

Although they kids were begging for more time, we had to put the computers away, send in their articles to The Red and Black email and say goodbye. They were sad to go after spending a day learning hands-on lessons about what they were all so passionate about.

We made sure they learned a lot with some journalism trivia questions before they left and then walked them downstairs to the buses.

To sum up the experience is Samantha from Barton Elementary, 4th grade, “I don’t have a favorite part. I just really liked everything about today.”

Gallery • 15 Photos

Photo by Alison Mckeough

Junior Journalism Day, hosted by the Red & Black and Mrs. Sullivan's Journalism class, invited students from the elementary & middles schools to participate in a full day of workshops and activities highlighting our program.