Oct 29, 2009 By Angie Oravec 4 min read

Local teachers learned and shared ideas on how to implement the Herald-Standard newspaper in the classroom at the annual Newspaper In Education (NIE) teacher workshop Wednesday. Working under this year’s theme of “Camp NIE,” 10 educators representing the Albert Gallatin and Uniontown Area school districts and St. John the Evangelist School in Uniontown took part in five different activities that all used the Herald-Standard newspaper as a basis for the activity.

Kim Bizik, English teacher at Lafayette Middle School, said she could use the activities in the classroom over a 5-week period. The activities are great at having students follow directions, she said, adding that she knows her students will enjoy them.

“Headline Hunt” had teachers delving through the paper to find local, state, national and international news and marking on a map that area of the world. During “Classified Connection,” teachers searched the newspaper’s classified section to find a home, a car and furnishings they could afford based on a $14,000 per year salary.

“Categories in the News” had teachers locating words or pictures that start with a particular letter and could fit into such categories as people, food, cars and two-syllable words. During “Who Are You?” a favorite among the teachers, teachers answered questions and wrote a brief story about an inanimate object found in the pages of the newspaper.

The educators, working in teams of two or three, also created a “troop flag” using items out of the newspaper to represent the qualities of team members. The groups then presented their story or gave their answers to others gathered at the workshop held in the Uniontown Holiday Inn.

Clint Rhodes, circulation marketing manager for the Herald-Standard, said the goal of presenting the activities is to help teachers develop “life-long readers.

“Kids are less likely to pick up the newspaper and the generation (you’re teaching) is a problem generation for newspaper readers,” said Rhodes. “Those of us in the (newspaper) industry, want them to become adults who will continue reading (the newspaper) everyday.”

Through the activities, students will learn and practice Pennsylvania standards, including math, English and writing skills as well as geography, budgeting and team building, without realizing it, according to Rhodes.

“They’re learning something, whether they think they are or not,” said Rhodes. “They are getting to know what’s going on out there.”

Rhodes said the beauty of the activities are that they start with the newspaper, but go way beyond its pages.

“Who Are You?” could be done “once a week or a month to build on writing skills,” Rhodes suggested. “(Students) will feel extremely proud to do that and overcome fears of public speaking.”

Through “Headline Hunt,” “Students will know where Sudan is rather than just Uniontown or Fairchance,” said Rhodes. “They don’t realize they’re gaining all this information.”

Gale Jadyk, second-grade teacher at Wharton School, said through “Who Are You,” students also will learn how to personify something.

“Kids love to do that,” Jadyk said.

“It gets their creative juices flowing,” added Rosemary Novotny, learning support teacher at Albert Gallatin North Middle School.

Rhodes encouraged teachers to elaborate on the activities by, for example, having creative writing sessions. He also encouraged them to take advantage of other newspaper features, such as the Junior Reporter Club and Student Body page.

The Herald-Standard also offers tours of its downtown Uniontown building, including a Saturday tour where students can see the press that prints the newspapers in action.

According to Linda Toth, circulation director for the Herald-Standard, approximately 4,200 copies of the Herald-Standard are delivered to schools every week through the NIE program. The Herald-Standard is entering its 25th year of offering the program as an effort to increase Herald-Standard readership and improve students’ reading, spelling and writing abilities.