LaSalle Springs Middle School students kept up-to-date on the happenings around their school this year through a new online service.
A group of seventh- and eighth-grade students published six editions of a digital newspaper called “The Whistler,” under the guidance of language arts teacher and newspaper adviser Allison Seitz.
She said she had the idea two years ago, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the project.
“At the end of last year, when we were hopeful that this year would be normal, I finally got some kids together,” Seitz said.
David Morrison, Rockwood’s communication coordinator, said LaSalle Springs is the only middle school to have a newspaper. Seitz said each edition contained about 15 to 20 stories.
The paper’s name is a throwback to how newspapers were dispersed, said staff member Sarah Mason, a 13-year-old seventh-grader from Eureka.
“Newspaper boys a long time ago used to whistle to get people’s attention,” she said.
Learning the trade
Seitz said she created the extracurricular activity that has students meet after the school day to research, report, write and create the digital papers to help develop news literacy and interview skills.
“I think those are life skills that they may not be getting when they’re on Snapchat (a social media platform),” she said.
Seventh-grade student Katy Aldridge, 13, of Eureka said she was excited to join the staff
“I first thought it sounded cool,” she said. “I really enjoy writing most of the time.”
Eighth-grade student Anna Coppin, 14, of Eureka said she likes the camaraderie the newspaper brings.
“I really like having a common goal that we all get to work together to achieve,” she said.
Aldridge said working on the newspaper taught her that developing articles is more involved than she thought because of the amount of time needed to research and write stories.
“I learned you actually need to do a lot more stuff,” she said. “I joined and I thought this would be easy.”
Eighth-grade student Jackson Dalton, 14, of Eureka said he wrote a story about summer book recommendations for the final publication of the school year, which can be read at rsdmo.org/lasalle.
He said he asked fellow LaSalle Springs students for recommendations to develop his list, and he has a newfound fondness for writing by being part of the paper’s staff.
“I didn’t like (writing) when I was in elementary school, but I like it more now,” he said.
Dalton said he also enjoyed writing an article about the celebrations of different cultures and religions for a story that appeared in the December edition.
“It was fun to research,” he said.
Seitz said her main purpose is to offer advice to the students, but the paper is driven by them.
“They do the interviews,” she said. “They do the pictures. They get to pick the topics.”
She said the students also edit each other’s work.
“I just keep them on task and proofread,” she said. “I like sitting back and watching.”
Joining up
Seitz said the staff of seventh- and eighth-grade students apply to be part of the newspaper near the end of the school year. She said there were 20 staff members for the 2021-2022 school year.
Other staff members included eighth-graders Avalon Cunningham, Reid Huntley, and Josie Schmitt and seventh-graders Brooke Vail, Ariel Murphy, Brooke Allen, Milla Dinan, Lillian Schlegl, Lexi Arsenault, Abby Jones, Anna Steele, Jack Leonard, Arjun Gollamudi, Layla Pierson, Samantha Laudano and Nevaeh McCarthy.