Syracuse Latin Students Spread Good News through Newspaper Club
Hot off the press!Every month, Syracuse Latin students read the latest about sports, history, photography, and of course – social news – in ‘The Latin Legend,’ the school’s newspaper.
Created for students and by students, a group of dedicated student journalists gather weekly to write their columns. They submit their work to their editors for approval, and the editors organize the pages into the final layout. The group of journalists grew from a small group last year to about two dozen 7th and 8th graders this year.
“I’ve always liked to write, and I already had some friends who are in the club,” 8th grader Kayshon Fields, now an Editor’s Assistant, said. “I’ve always thought writing is a fun thing to do, but I didn’t really have an interest in journalism. But the more I do with the club, I think: who knows! In our school [being a K-8 building], the grades can feel separated in some ways. In Newspaper Club, we want to feature all grade levels, the administration… we want to let everyone know about all the great things happening all throughout our school.”
“I really like media and talking to people,” Editor Tess Martin said. “Last year, I was a writer. I wrote articles about sports and other things happening around the school. This year, I wanted to be editor because I wanted to enhance my skills as a leader. I approve things, add things to the paper, and get print approval from the principal. I’ve learned how to work together and how to bring different ideas together so it’s all a cohesive issue.”
Tess said that while she enjoys journalism and may want to continue pursuing it in high school, she ultimately hopes to become a crime scene technician one day.
“But even if you don’t want to go into journalism, the Newspaper Club is a great opportunity to meet people who have shared interests,” she said. “It’s a way for us to bring awareness to social issues and bring news to people who may not otherwise read it.”
It’s also a great way for students to express their own unique interests and ideas.
“They literally do everything themselves,” Special Education teacher and Newspaper Club advisor Erica Richards said of the young journalists. “They choose the things that are important to them and their friends… like the advice column they started! This is a group where anyone can jump in if they have ideas. They can join us for an issue and then move on – it’s very open to meeting the students’ needs.”
In addition to their work mining news stories from throughout their building, the club has also enjoyed learning from a SUNY Cortland student who helps advise the group and speaks with them about fake news, biased news, and how to form their own educated opinion.
We’re proud of these Syracuse Latin student leaders for their hard work in sharing the good news happening in their school!
