I was recently invited to attend an event called “Ice Cream for Books and Numbers at Sunrise Elementary in Blaine. The purpose of the event was for students to explore writing, reading and math in the real world.
Teacher Judie Anderson Offerdahl reached out to me to see if I’d be willing to attend the event. “We are going to have a newspaper article station and thought it would be awesome if a real reporter was available to field questions,” she said. I met Judie back in 2017 when I wrote the article, “Blaine teacher and students recognized for sportsmanship.” Judie, her collogues and students at North Pointe Elementary in Blaine were honored with a Musial Award (formerly known as the National Sportsmanship Awards). They were given the award for writing letters of encouragement to Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh, who missed a 27-yard field goal in a playoff game.
I have to admit I was a bit nervous to go to the event for a couple of reasons. First, I was nervous because I’m nearing my due date and there seems to be so much sickness going around these days, especially in schools and daycares. Second, I was nervous because I never like the attention being on me. I wasn’t quite sure how the event would go, but I’m so glad I chose to participate.
During the event, students and their families were able to participate in a variety of activities revolving around reading, writing and math. As students stopped by the different stations and completed activities, they would color in a scoop on their ice cream cone coloring sheet. Once all of their scoops were colored in, they were invited to enjoy some ice cream.
I was at a newspaper station. During the event I fielded questions about what its like to be a reporter for a local newspaper and what the job entails. While visiting the table, students could draw a Thanksgiving-themed photo if they wanted to participate in our Thanksgiving contest or they could make their very own front page. On their front page, they could come up with a newspaper name, write headlines, draw pictures and write stories.
One student came up to me and said “only old people read newspapers” and that couldn’t be further from the truth. According to a Minnesota Market Study conducted by Coda Ventures, 86% of Minnesota adults read newspapers (print and online) and of that, 78% are under the age of 65.
I was impressed with the curiosity of the students (and their parents). Some of the questions I was asked included: “How do you decide what to write? How many stories a week do you write? What do you write about? Is your job hard?”
During the event I ran into a couple of other familiar faces too. A captain of a cross country team happened to find a story and photo of his team in a paper that was hanging up right behind me. I also ran into Wendy Dahlen, president of Granny’s Closet, who was thrilled to discover a story about the nonprofit’s Angel Program was on the front page of that week’s issue.
Seeing both of their faces light up when they saw the newspaper just warmed my heart. Judie noticed too and told me, “Look at the smiles your newspaper is bringing.”
I’m thankful for community members who appreciate the local newspaper. It can often be a thankless job and sometimes you lose sight of all the people who enjoy reading the newspaper after a few angry letters trickle in.
Shannon Granholm is the managing editor at Press Publications.
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