Wednesday, March 3, 1993
The Clackamflß Print
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College students learn from fourth-graders
by Linda Vogt
Adviser, The Clackamas Print
This is the first story I have
ever written for the student news
paper in my nearly seven years
here as a journalism instructor
and adviser. But I want to share
a wonderful experience I had last
week, watching students from the
newspaper staff reach beyond then-
everyday lives and become teach
ers themselves.
A week ago, 17 of us from
The Clackamas Print staff piled
into the college van and two other
cars and headed out Beavercreek
Road to Clarkes Elementary
School, about 10 miles away. We
were going to see our fourth-grade
pen pals, and to teach them some
journalism skills so that they can
do their own news show chi video.
The college students had al
ready exchanged pen pal letters
with students in Leslie Woods’
fourth-grade class. Upon our ar
rival in the classroom, the fourth
graders tried to contain their ex
cited energy as they speculated
4 Which one is my pen pal?”
My students introduced
themselves, and one by one the
fourth graders got up from then-
desks and went to stand by their
college friends. From that point
on, there was no need to do any
thing to create a connection; it
happened spontaneously. There
was so much excited conversa
Photo by An janette Booth
The Clackamas Print staff poses with Leslie Woods* fourth-grade class during recess. 17 college students visited their
pen pals at Clarkes Elementary School, and helped teach them basic journalism skills.
tion that the room reverberated
with it, and smiles were many.
The college students had di
vided themselves into groups to
teach basic journalism skills:
news writing, feature writing,
interviewing and fact vs. opinion.
The fourth-graders rotated from
group to group, and the session
took about an hour. During that
hour, The Print staff members
leftbehindtheir status as students
and became the teachers, and the
fourth-graders couldn’t get
enough.
What I observed during that
session was that my journalism
students can move very easily into
the role of mentor and teacher.
Perhaps, for them, it was a wel
come change. How often do our
college students get that opportu
nity? All day long on campus
they sit at the desks, they do the
assignments, they either know or
don’tknow the answers,they cope
with the stress of going to college,
working, being parents or daugh
ters orsons. For two hours, those
rolesandresponsibilities were sus
pended, and instead, these 18- to
26-year-olds were, to the fourth
graders, the most wise, wonderful
people on earth! It made me
smile, just walking around the
clas sroom and seeing that change
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Photo by Anjanette Booth
Frank Jordan gets to know his pen pal Jeff. Frank helped
teach the students howto write news stories before playing
basketball with them during recess.
But I suspect that we all
came back changed just
a little; it's very powerful
to be the most special
person ever to a child.
A
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happen.
It happened out on the play
ground, too, when we joined the
fourth-graders for recess. This is
what I saw there: a tall student
and a short student, swinging in
tandem on the swing set; two
fourth-graders atone end and one
college student at the other end of
the teeter-totter; Frank Jordan,
who is 6 feet, 8 inches, playing
basketball with little people half
his height, and amazing them
endlessly with his ability to stuff
the ball into the basket - yet
giving them room to score often;
college students climbing on the
playground equipment with their
fourth-graders, and coming down
the slide for the first time in 10
years. All this happened with the
bright winter backdrop of spar
kling white snow and blue sky; it
was quite a sight!
The hardest part of the day
was the leaving; the fourth-grad
ers sang us a song, hugged their
pen pals, asked us when we would
come again, and then waved
goodbye aridwentreluctantlyback
to their classroom.
We piled into the van, turned
up the oldies on the radior ate
bagels and cream cheese and trav
eled the 10 miles back to the
college through snow-covered
fields. But I suspect that we all
came back changed just a little;
it’s very powerful to be the most
special person ever to a child.
Photo by Anjanette Booth
Daniel Mala sits with one of the fourth-g raders. Daniel was
involved in teaching the Interviewing process to the class.