TEN YEARS OF NIE

After 10 years of having newspapers delivered to area schools, teachers still can't get enough copies for their classes, said Cape Girardeau Central High School's librarian, Julia Jorgenson, who also serves on the board of the YELL Foundation.

"There is a far greater demand for newspapers through the Newspapers in Education program than can be paid for by the YELL grant," Jorgenson said.

Newspapers in Education, or NIE, is an idea implemented through thousands of newspapers that provide newspapers to students of all ages. The concept allows teachers to integrate newspapers into the classroom.

Among 32 schools in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City, over 3,200 Southeast Missourian newspapers are distributed weekly, said Mark Kneer, circulation and marketing director.

The idea to participate in NIE came from a national meeting of publishers attended by Southeast Missourian owner Gary Rust. He was impressed by the NIE presentation, said Kim McDowell, assistant to the president of Concord Publishing.

Letters suggesting NIE were sent out as a trial measure to school principals, not knowing how they might be received.

"We got an overwhelming response that teachers wanted our newspaper," McDowell said.

The NIE program locally costs about $80,000 to run, Kneer said, with 35 percent of that being funded by YELL. The Southeast Missourian pays the balance, he said.

Elementary schools will get a newspaper delivered once a week, while plans for junior highs and high schools vary. Some will receive papers daily and others three days or once a week, Kneer said.

Some teacher's dependence on the daily delivery is great, he said.

"This is especially true in cases where the newspaper is used like another textbook," Kneer said. "It would be like going to class without a textbook if the newspapers weren't delivered."

One Central High School class called Contemporary Issues uses newspapers daily, Jorgenson said. In one exercise, the teacher will have students in the elective social studies course read a news item and then give a presentation with their perspective on the news.

Outside of classes, newspapers are available during study halls, Jorgenson said. Sports sections are popular, along with classified ads, she said.

"A lot of teen-agers are either looking for cars, or jobs to pay for gas for cars," she said.

Limits to using newspapers in classes are few, McDowell said.

Grocery ads can be used to help with math skills, she said. Election coverage can assist social studies or civics courses, and especially this year.

One teacher has taken editorial cartoons and asked students to critique them, McDowell said. The teacher wants the students to decide which side the cartoon favors.

Other instructors have cut out photographs, taking away the photo caption, and then asked children to describe what is going on in the scene.

And newspapers offer a wide variety of reading material, even for those who don't like to read.

"A student not turned on to reading can often start with the comics and grow into a better reader," McDowell said.