This article was written for the February edition of the Community Compass newsletter.
Sauk Trail Elementary School students are evolving into young journalists who uplift student and staff voices through their monthly newsletter, the Sauk Trail Scoop.
Fourth-grade teacher Mark Hutchins came up with the idea for the newsletter last year after receiving a local newspaper at his home. He said it’s a way for students, staff, and families to get a closer look at the classwork, projects, and activities happening in fourth grade.
“It’s really cool to see nine-year-olds and ten-year-olds take ownership of this and make it a student-centered newsletter,” Hutchins said. “They choose what they are sharing about their work.”
Two students from each of the fourth-grade classrooms contribute to the newsletter and rotate every month. One student from each classroom also works on the following month’s newsletter by providing mentorship to the new journalists.
In addition to updates on classwork and special projects, students also interview teachers and staff members for the newsletter. Hutchins holds an initial planning meeting at the start of every month to discuss ideas and set up interview times, but the students come up with the questions and conduct the interviews themselves.
“The teacher interviews are especially great because they get to revisit past teachers and we all get to learn more about the people we work with,” Hutchins said.
Working on the newsletter helps students strengthen several key aspects of A Cardinal’s Journey. This includes the curious, community-oriented, and accountable Mindsets as well as the Foundations of communication and collaboration.
Other staff members who mentor the students include Library Media Specialist Betsy Wermuth, paraeducator Cori Ludwig, and fourth-grade teachers Lindsey Harmon, Scott Miatech, and Callie Moyer. Hutchins said they’re impressed by how the students take charge of the editorial process.
“We like seeing their ideas come to life in a real-world kind of way,” Hutchins said. “We also love seeing how excited they are to work on this on a daily basis.”