St. Ambrose students create school newspaper

Southeast Missouri has a new newspaper.

The Blue and Gold, Student Council newspaper of St. Ambrose Catholic School in Chaffee, Missouri, debuted recently, and its staff is happy with the product.

"Knowing that I accomplished this was really satisfying," said seventh-grader Kiersten Arnold, photographer.

Seventh-grader Bobby Grojean, contributor, agreed: "My favorite part was all of us being able to contribute things to it and actually getting it out there for people to see."

Kaiya Haney, eighth grade, served as editor-in-chief of the publication, overseeing a staff of 10, including two assistant editors, Gabe Lands and Kaden Dannenmueller, both seventh-graders. Other contributors were Maisy Rushing and Abby Burton, both eighth-graders. Ellie Baert, third grade, and Grant Berry, seventh grade, were reporters, and seventh-grader Jesef Martin and sixth-grader Jersie Lynn served as photographers.

The idea for the publication sprouted last academic year. Rachael Bremer, Student Council moderator, green-lit the project at Kaiya's request. She said the staff had varied interests -- including history of the school, parish and town; art; and the daily goings-on at the school -- and their enthusiasm continued as they crafted the first issue.

"My big lesson -- just looking through their articles and working with them as a group -- was how dedicated they were to it, how they pick up on a lot more than you and I offer to them on a daily basis, and they are great researchers," she noted. "A lot of our articles, they worked together with another person, and they really collaborated to a degree I wasn't expecting from them. I was amazed at how hard they worked on it."

Familiar design

The five-page publication has the familiar look of a newspaper, with curated headlines and stories, photos and captions. The students included several common newspaper features -- such as a puzzle, weather forecast and note from the editor. Shared digital documents allowed the staff to write, submit and edit content.

Kaiya explained none of the staff had any journalism training and approached stories as they would a typical essay.

"I like journalism anyway, and so I thought this would be fun to do," the editor said, adding seeing the finished product was gratifying.

The students worked on the publication for about a month, and staff members said the project taught them valuable lessons.

"I got to learn more about the history of the school and the church," Kaiya noted.

"Contributing in multiple ways can help others learn," Jesef said. "It was fun to find the information."

"I learned how long it actually takes to make a newspaper, how much effort goes into it," Kaden added.

Bobby said writing for the newspaper has helped him put his thoughts into words, and Kiersten said the assignments helped her manage time better.

Several of the staff said they sought roles in which they have an interest.

"I like taking pictures of things, so I thought being a photographer would be good," Kiersten explained.

"We kind of just picked our jobs, and everything fell into place," Bobby said.

"It sounded fun to help with, and I wanted to make something for it," Kaden said.

The next issue is set to publish in the spring, Bremer said.

Principal Laura Enderle praised the young journalists for their work.

"They have been wanting to do this for several years. So, I have some kids who are really well versed in photography and writing," she said. "I love the product that it became, and I am very proud of them for all their hard work and the variety of stories. ... They included our prayer life. They included a history lesson. They included their fun time, recess. I am just really proud of them."

An e-edition of the newspaper is available through the school's Facebook page.