School is back in session, and seasoned Healthy NewsWorks student journalists are chomping at the bit to get back to reporting and writing.
Eighth graders at St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral Catholic School in Camden so enjoyed working on the staff of their health newspaper last year, they asked to continue on this year.
“The entire class asked if the newspaper could continue with them when they came back in September in eighth grade,” said Danielle Guernon, English Language Arts teacher at St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral Catholic School and the faculty editor of Catholic Partnership Schools Healthy Courier.
The answer was an immediate yes, Ms. Guernon said. “This journalism class put a fire under all of them, and I could not be more proud of the growth I have seen in their writing over the last year.”
At East Norriton Middle School in Norristown, five students are returning to the Bulldog Bulletin.
“They have enjoyed being able to write about issues that matter to them, and have their voices heard,” said Victoria Strickland, the East Norriton teacher who oversees the school’s health newspaper.
Veteran reporters highlighted different aspects of the program when asked about why they are returning to their health newspapers.
“These young journalists have commented about how being able to inform their peers about topics that matter gives them a sense of accomplishment,” Ms. Strickland said.
Sharing newly found knowledge with others was a key factor among Camden students, too.
“They wanted to write interesting articles for the whole Catholic Partnership to see,” Ms. Guernon said. “They also loved the interviews with all the influential people they got to meet, virtually, throughout the year and wanted to be a part of more.”
Students in Norristown are excited about this year’s theme, Caring for Our Earth and Ourselves. “They really like the idea of caring for ourselves,” Strickland said.
In Camden, Ms. Guernon is excited to see how much more her students grow as writers and reporters with another year of the program.
“My No. 1 goal … is to allow them to be a part of interviewing and broadening their love to be reporters, and just writers in general,” Ms. Guernon said.
Be on the lookout for the student’s work; editions of the Bulldog Bulletin and Healthy Courier will be posted online as they are published.
