CLASSES READ ALL ABOUT IT

John Allen looked at the Southeast Missourian along with other students in Bud Craven's class.

Bud Craven showed students in his Cape Girardeau Central Junior High civics class how his mother would be affected by a national news story on the balanced budget amendment.

"If politicians want to touch her social security benefits, you better believe she's going to keep that in mind the next time she votes," Craven said. "A high percentage of people her age go to the polls to vote."

Using the Southeast Missourian as his text, Craven was able to make information come alive by showing how it affected the lives of his students and their families.

Dipping into social security benefits would help balance the budget, but what about the budget of Craven's mother? Just one of many morsels of food for thought.

"I usually pick out five topics and then let them talk about something they find interesting on their own," Craven said. "I plan on asking them what they think of Sheryl Crow, who's from Kennett, winning a Grammy for the hit song `All I Wanna Do.'"

Most of the students appeared aware that Crow had won a Grammy the previous night. What they didn't know, however, was that the lyrics came from an obscure poet.

"Until that poem became a hit song, no one really knew who this poet was," Craven said. "Maybe one of you will win a Grammy or write a poem that will lead to a hit song."

Craven also touched upon such topics as the HIV virus and U.S. interest in Somalia. "Why do we care what goes on in Somalia?" Craven asked. "Because we give them a lot of money," one student responded. "That's right. If we've got mucho bucks invested over there, we're very much interested in what goes on," Craven said.

A story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch involved research that would affect white cells. "Who knows about white cells?" Craven queried. A student who said she suffered from food poisoning flashed a knowing grin. "That's right, you probably heard about white cells when you found out what was wrong."

Charles Schroeder asked his Cape Central Junior High citizenship class what it thought of Thursday's Southeast Missourian story on Boyd Gaming. An architect for Boyd said the company would likely seek approval to operate dockside in Cape Girardeau.

"Do you think they should be allowed to do that here?" queried Schroeder.

One student said she thought the riverboat should cruise the Mississippi to accommodate those who are interested in sightseeing rather than gambling.

Craven and Schroeder are two of several teachers in Southeast Missouri who use the Missourian as a teaching tool.

Gretchen Fee dissects the newspaper to show her literature class how it works. "They have to identify a local, national and statewide story and tell why it's in a designated section in the paper," Fee said. "A lot of times students say they look at the police report but don't know that it's called the record page. I want to show them how to use the newspaper to find the information they need."

Fee talks about the importance of a lead paragraph in a story. "We go over the five W's (who, what, why, where and when) and how those questions are answered in the story."

Craven gives his class a quiz on Friday over information that was discussed throughout the week.

Such questions include:

Gov. Carnahan gave a major speech this week. Explain with details.

Give details on the major disaster in Japan this week.

Why did Anita Hill come to town this week? What did she talk about?

The issuance of a liquor license by the City Council this week put them in hot water with the public. Why?

Craven even uses political cartoons as a way to teach through the newspaper. "I ask them to explain the cartoon," Craven said. "It's just another way to address topics that are in the news every day."