NIE qups

One of the fun things I do at the News-Times is to sort through the submissions for the annual Student Express. I wish you could see even half of what we receive for this annual contest. This morning I sorted through the weather pictures. Will Barker drew a picture of the earth with the blue waters around the American continents topped with a precisely drawn red and white striped North Pole.
Sloane Kinnaird drew a boy standing outside in the rain with a speech balloon, “I should believe my mom when she says ‘put a jacket on!’”
As in past years, black, ominous thunder storms with jagged yellow streaks of lightning and tornados filled the weather drawings. Several Union third graders fought back with massive blasting suns shining fiercely down on green and blue planet earths. Kelsey Howard stayed on earth with an idyllic day of camping and swimming on the river. “I am shining bright today,” announced the smiling sun drawn by Steven Levonta Goodwin.
Tyler Yancey would have preferred to have drawn a sports picture rather than one for the weather. His sketch of sunny day included a pick-up game between Koby Bryant of the Lakers and Roberson of the Spurs.
Chana Nash dealt with the issue of over-heated animals on a sunny day with precisely drawn Union County Sheriff’s Office car and an ambulance labeled “Pet Vet”.
Second graders flooded me with heaps of recipes on how to make a peanut butter and jam sandwich, pizzas (“go to the store and buy one”) and lots of macaroni and cheese. Some of the students cook in a pen, others simply use a pin instead of a pan.
Obviously the cooking process is still a bit of a mystery to the students who list the ingredients then skip over how to combine them.
Many recipes begin with “Go to the store to get …” and ended with a pragmatic, “now you eat it.”
It is a good thing that we do not require accurate spelling for the recipe contest. Otherwise how would I ever get a chance to read how to make: befu Stoow, kerits or toona fish. Personally, I think chicken would look better with a flower or two on it, but I think it would taste better cooked with flour.
Tiffany Williams evidently planned on a meal of eggs for company. Her egg recipe began, “you need 22 eggs …”
Cooking has changed a great deal in recent years with pre-mixed, packaged foods simplifying the process. Even a child like Yasmine Roshouon King can confidently detail how to make cookies: “First you buy any kind of cookie dow at a store …then you take the cookie dow out of the paper.”
Zhanecia Davis was concerned about sharing the pizza, “Make sure everyone gets a slice, and when you get it, take it and eat it.”
The freshness and honesty of why sixth graders get the paper speaks to us all:
“The police log is for nosy people, and I’m one of them,” Michael Thurman admitted.
“It is a good thing to start fires,” Vincent Medlin wrote.
“The ads sell a variety of things. One is clothes. You can’t exactly live without clothes.” Clair Tarver observed.
“I like the birthday list because if your parents don’t have the money to buy you anything for your birthday, they can just put your name in the newspaper.” Ronisha Cage told us.
“The newspaper helps out around the house in many ways. It is used around my bird cage. It catches bird droppings and bird feathers. … A newspaper is very big and it can make killing flies just a breeze.” Kevin Roscoe revealed.
Unfortunately, we only have enough room to publish the top winners in each category and perhaps a few of the honorable mentions. I am busy working on the finishing touches for our annual Student Express, which will be inserted in our papers on Sunday – the beginning of Newspapers in Education week. The kids have worked hard, we hope you take the time at a select few of their submissions.
(Joan Hershberger is a reporter at the News-Times.)