Sponsors help classrooms use the news
Virtually every teacher at every level of education will testify that reading is among the most important fundamental skills a student must master to be successful in school.
In many schools, newspapers play a role in that learning experience.
Through a national program called Newspapers in Education, or NIE, The Enterprise has for decades helped provide newspapers for use in classrooms across the region.
NIE currently provides newspapers to 101 classrooms in 47 schools in 23 communities.
Sponsors help fund the program, which basically has always been a less-than-break-even project for the newspaper.
Now with the advent of The Enterprise’s electronic eEdition, things have changed substantially.
In the past, carriers dropped bundles of newspapers on the front doorsteps of specific schools and hoped the newspapers would be directed to the correct classroom.
With the eEdition system, newspapers are electronically delivered to specific teachers, who can allow access by as many as 25 students who might want to review current events, writing styles, the weather, history or a variety of other subjects.
The newspaper pages are delivered electronically at night, ready and waiting when students arrive in the morning.
The eEdition has resulted in a surge of teacher requests for participation in the NIE program. Teachers see the need for and value of having newspapers available as a study aid. There is even an online teacher’s guide to help them incorporate the use of the newspaper in their classrooms.
Unfortunately, the number of sponsors to provide those discounted NIE subscriptions has not grown proportionally. The link on BeaumontEnterprise.com currently says, “NIE subscriptions are currently on hold. Please check back at a later time.”
Currently, a total of 22 sponsors have made contributions from $150 to $500 in support of the program. That covers current NIE participants.
Many more teachers are interested in bringing the program to their classrooms, but that can only happen through additional sponsorships.
Businesses, groups or individuals can help sponsor classroom subscriptions by clicking on the eEdition icon on our Web page and following it to the NIE sponsorship link. Or, if potential sponsors prefer, they can call 409-838-2830 or e-mail BColvin@HearstNP.com to get information about the program.
The cost to sponsor a classroom of 25 students for one school year (37 weeks) is $350. Sponsoring the same classroom for one week is less than $9.50. Sponsoring one child for a year is about $14.
Bringing a newspaper to one child in one classroom costs less than 38 cents per school week.
Obviously, we can’t have thousands of 38-cent donations to the program. But if a church, a Sunday school class, a club, or a group of friends want to coordinate their efforts to provide a year’s worth of newspapers to a 25-student classroom, many, many more students could benefit from the program.
There’s even a fairly strong possibility that groups could suggest a preference of school districts, or maybe even specific schools they would like to help.
A daily newspaper serves as a constantly changing textbook for students, enabling them not only to develop good reading skills, but to gain a better understanding of the world around them.
The Enterprise’s eEdition now provides those newspapers in an electronic medium that is environmentally friendly and in a form that better suits today’s teachers and students.
* * *
This last week has been substantially calmer than the previous one, but some callers still seem to think that screaming and using inappropriate language is the best way to make their opinions known.
The topic this week has been sports. Either we have too much football, not enough football, or not the right football on our sports pages. Our stories are always slanted for whatever team the caller’s favorite played against.
One caller, after some serious screaming and abusive language on the Reader Representative line, asked for the sports editor’s number so he could call and tell him to “kiss my a . .”
Really folks, we’re happy to listen to your opinions, but that’s unnecessary. We value your input and are even quite willing to hear constructive criticism, but, please, less anger and more substance.
It works better for both of us that way.
In many schools, newspapers play a role in that learning experience.
Through a national program called Newspapers in Education, or NIE, The Enterprise has for decades helped provide newspapers for use in classrooms across the region.
NIE currently provides newspapers to 101 classrooms in 47 schools in 23 communities.
Sponsors help fund the program, which basically has always been a less-than-break-even project for the newspaper.
Now with the advent of The Enterprise’s electronic eEdition, things have changed substantially.
In the past, carriers dropped bundles of newspapers on the front doorsteps of specific schools and hoped the newspapers would be directed to the correct classroom.
With the eEdition system, newspapers are electronically delivered to specific teachers, who can allow access by as many as 25 students who might want to review current events, writing styles, the weather, history or a variety of other subjects.
The newspaper pages are delivered electronically at night, ready and waiting when students arrive in the morning.
The eEdition has resulted in a surge of teacher requests for participation in the NIE program. Teachers see the need for and value of having newspapers available as a study aid. There is even an online teacher’s guide to help them incorporate the use of the newspaper in their classrooms.
Unfortunately, the number of sponsors to provide those discounted NIE subscriptions has not grown proportionally. The link on BeaumontEnterprise.com currently says, “NIE subscriptions are currently on hold. Please check back at a later time.”
Currently, a total of 22 sponsors have made contributions from $150 to $500 in support of the program. That covers current NIE participants.
Many more teachers are interested in bringing the program to their classrooms, but that can only happen through additional sponsorships.
Businesses, groups or individuals can help sponsor classroom subscriptions by clicking on the eEdition icon on our Web page and following it to the NIE sponsorship link. Or, if potential sponsors prefer, they can call 409-838-2830 or e-mail BColvin@HearstNP.com to get information about the program.
The cost to sponsor a classroom of 25 students for one school year (37 weeks) is $350. Sponsoring the same classroom for one week is less than $9.50. Sponsoring one child for a year is about $14.
Bringing a newspaper to one child in one classroom costs less than 38 cents per school week.
Obviously, we can’t have thousands of 38-cent donations to the program. But if a church, a Sunday school class, a club, or a group of friends want to coordinate their efforts to provide a year’s worth of newspapers to a 25-student classroom, many, many more students could benefit from the program.
There’s even a fairly strong possibility that groups could suggest a preference of school districts, or maybe even specific schools they would like to help.
A daily newspaper serves as a constantly changing textbook for students, enabling them not only to develop good reading skills, but to gain a better understanding of the world around them.
The Enterprise’s eEdition now provides those newspapers in an electronic medium that is environmentally friendly and in a form that better suits today’s teachers and students.
* * *
This last week has been substantially calmer than the previous one, but some callers still seem to think that screaming and using inappropriate language is the best way to make their opinions known.
The topic this week has been sports. Either we have too much football, not enough football, or not the right football on our sports pages. Our stories are always slanted for whatever team the caller’s favorite played against.
One caller, after some serious screaming and abusive language on the Reader Representative line, asked for the sports editor’s number so he could call and tell him to “kiss my a . .”
Really folks, we’re happy to listen to your opinions, but that’s unnecessary. We value your input and are even quite willing to hear constructive criticism, but, please, less anger and more substance.
It works better for both of us that way.
posted by Sheila Friedeck at 4:04 PM
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