ON THE FRONT LINES OF ENCOURAGING LIFE-TIME READING

Young people today grow up in a different learning atmosphere than their forebears. They are fortunate in that the means for acquiring knowledge are numerous and varied. However, the ample assortment of learning sources can also be confounding. One source that remains stable in this hodgepodge is the newspaper, which evolves with new technology but remains constant in its informational mission. During Newspaper in Education Week, which runs through Friday, we celebrate the role these publications play in nurturing the learning experience of young people.

Newspaper in Education is a program that has been greeted warmly by teachers and students. The departure from traditional textbooks supplies a fresh element for both, and the uses of the newspaper in teaching transcends nearly all disciplines: news pages can be used in history or language or reading lessons, weather lends itself to a science discussion, graphics can be used for teaching geography and math, comics can be used for teaching art and advertisements can be used for math and social studies. Music teachers might find something of interest to students on the Arts and Leisure page. The utility of the newspaper in education is as broad as the ingenuity of those who employ them in the classroom.

Many area teachers have come to recognize this. In its fourth year of existence locally, the Southeast Missourian NIE program delivers 7,507 newspapers to 68 area schools each Tuesday of the academic year, not to mention about 800 newspapers that go out daily to other students, mostly in current events classes. The undertaking is considerable, costing around $84,000 annually. About half that is raised through the YELL for Newspapers literacy campaign, an autumn fundraiser that benefits the program and that has been roundly embraced by the community. The rest of the cost is absorbed by the newspaper, which sees the investment as well worth it.

The Newspaper in Education program is not unique to Cape Girardeau, nor did the concept originate here. Across the nation, newspapers and schools have worked together in efforts that promote literacy, a concern for current events and a fuller appreciation for reading as a source of gathering information. The programs here and elsewhere are not without a degree of self-interest; young people who pick up the habit of reading newspapers are more likely to continue this pursuit as adults, making them customers of the future. With the benefits yielded to each individual by a love of reading, however, we stand unashamed of this added motive.

Certainly, there is a lot more at stake here than long-term newspaper circulation possibilities. The problem of illiteracy is a profound one: Statistics are available that show 25 percent of Missouri adults read at a proficiency of eighth grade or below, while at least 10 percent read below a fourth grade level. For the economic sector of our society, lack of reading skills can mean low productivity, diminished quality of goods and higher costs of doing business. It's not so much that formal schooling isn't attained but that reading holds the key to so many other types of learning ... in the classroom, on the job site and throughout life. The Newspaper in Education program gives teachers a different, versatile and immediate tool for practicing their skills. We are pleased to be a part of this endeavor, and equally pleased that schools and area communities have welcomed it.