EVER-CHANGING TEXTBOOKS: NEWSPAPERS PROVE A GOOD READ

Bill Springer asked his students questions about news articles in the Southeast Missourian.

Alexia Gunn read intently the classified ads in the Southeast Missourian as she sat at her desk in her high school citizenship class.

"I just like to see what jobs are there," said Gunn.

She also finds the want ads entertaining. An ad that read "Female, silver/white, long hair, free to good home," amused her. Presumably it was a dog or cat, but the ad didn't say so.

Gunn's classmates also read the newspaper Friday under the watchful gaze of teacher Bill Springer.

Southeast Missourian newspapers lined the floor at the front of the Cape Central High School classroom. Newspapers also were stacked on a chair.

The police report is routinely studied by the students, who are curious if anyone they know has been arrested.

A front-page story about the fatal shooting in St. Louis of a pregnant teen-ager on a school bus garnered the attention of the entire class.

Springer regularly uses the newspaper as a teaching tool in his citizenship and American history classes as part of the Newspaper in Education program.

"I think being informed is being a good citizen," he said.

Springer picks out three news stories and has his students read them and write a three-sentence summary on each article. Each student also must write an essay tied to what they read in the newspaper.

Students routinely read the newspaper, even when it isn't part of the lesson plan. "I think 80 percent of them read it every day," said Springer.

This is Newspaper in Education Week. The Southeast Missourian is in its sixth year of offering newspapers to area schoolteachers for use in classrooms.

It costs about $66,000 annually to print and distribute the newspapers to the schools. The YELL literacy campaign and sponsors raise about $37,000 for the project, with the newspaper contributing $29,000.

The newspaper began the project in the Louis J. Schultz Middle School in 1990. It has since expanded to include public and private elementary and secondary schools in the Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City region.

Each week, 4,889 Southeast Missourian newspapers are delivered to area classrooms. Another 3,430 Mini Page sections are distributed. The weekly section has news stories, games and information geared for young readers.

Nearly 300 teachers use the newspapers in their classrooms.

"I don't think most people realize that 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds have an interest in what is going on," said Springer.

"You start flipping through the paper you can always find something to read," he said.

Sometimes there is a personal interest in the news. High school student Diana Haley read with interest about the opening of new Highway 74.

Her house at College and Ellis was torn down to make room for the highway. That didn't bother Haley. "I was sort of glad they tore it down."

Cheryl Pittman teaches American history and citizenship classes at Central High School.

She said students develop reading and critical thinking skills by reading the newspaper. They also learn about everything from world history to local issues.

"They know more about what is going on than I do most of the time," she said.