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Journalism 101 features stories reported by elementary school students from South Orange-Maplewood schools. These aspiring journalists are honing their skills in after-school enrichment classes taught by Marilyn Lehren, a former Patch editor and freelance journalist. Do you have a story idea for our aspiring journalists? Let us know.By Chibueze Achebe, Violet Christian, Hannah Jackson, and Aaron Saunders Students at South Mountain Elementary School are making royal castles fit for kings and queens. (and maybe monsters, too). Their treasure? The stuff we routinely toss in the trash. “We are trying to make a model of a castle for our movie, Born by the Dead,” said Anya and Alice, third graders, with big dreams. Anya’s grandfather is an inventor and Alice’s friend is a filmmaker, so they’re serious about making their movie happen, the girls said. The girls, working on their prop just like real filmmakers, talked about …
By Aaron Saunders, a South Mountain After-School Scholar Do you like to jump rope? Trying hopping for more than two hours. That’s what students at South Mountain Elementary School did to find out who can jump the longest. At the same time, they raised money for kids with heart disease. “To me, it felt I had a chance to show people what it meant like to be a heart hero,” said Chibueze who jumped rope for an amazing 2 hours and 36 minutes. “We need to help other children who have bad hearts. I felt I had to do something before it was too late.” Through the American Heart Association’s Jump Rope…
By Maia McNulty and Nicole Westwood Mr. Bill: By day he’s the school custodian. By Wednesday afternoon ... he’s Dumbledore. Mr. Bill, or is this case, Professor Albus Dumbledore, teaches Wizards Club, a fun after-school enrichment class at Jefferson Elementary School. Wizards Club is based on the magical world of Harry Potter, one of the most famous series in the world. We spent a few afternoons like spies on the wall observing all the spells and magic of the class. We saw the students duel and cast charms. One day, Mr. Bill’s rat was wet, and he was upset because he doesn’t like his rat wet…
This article was reported and written by South Mountain Elementary studentsChibueze Achebe, Violet Christian, Hannah Jackson, and Aaron Saunders, aspiring journalists in the South Mountain After-School Scholars program. Wingardium Leviosa! Imagine a charm in a South Mountain classroom where you make an object fly. Impossible, you say? It is possible when you enter the classroom of Professor Rodriquez and the After-School Scholars Wizards class. Scholars journalism students got an inside look at just how the professor’s young wizards learned how to levitate a burning tea bag. There were spells…
