Park Ave. newspaper club visits WVHS counterparts for journalism lesson

This week, the budding journalists of the Park Avenue Paw Print newspaper/journalism club visited the Warwick Valley High School for a morning filled with activities and learning about journalism at the high school level. The Paw Print, launched last year under the guidance of Park Avenue teachers Ashley McPherson and Krystie Gilmore, has about 15 members this year, and the all-student editorial staff writes about everything from interesting class lessons to family vacations and afterschool hobbies.

“The club is great because it gives students the opportunity to see the importance of non-fiction writing,” said Ms. Gilmore. “They learn how writing communicates important information to the community. The students get really excited when they see that other people take an interest in their work.”

Ms. Gilmore and Ms. McPherson see the Paw Print club as a way to provide young students opportunities to put the writing and research skills they are learning in the classroom and apply them to subjects and issues that interest them.

"With the Paw Print, the students can choose to write about anything," said Ms. McPherson. "It can be anything, from sports to something fun they did over a holiday break, and then really expanding on it.”

Isabelle Piascik, a fourth grade member of the Paw Print team, felt motivated to join the club because of her longtime love of reading and writing.

“I got to write about the Park Avenue Read-a-thon," said Isabelle, adding that she also enjoyed the process of interviewing an expert on her topic for the piece. "It was cool because my mom was part of read-a-thon, so I got to write about what she did for that.”

Valentina De Jesus, another Paw Print club member, enjoys writing about travel.

"In school we learned about South America, so I wrote a piece about some of what I learned," she said. "Now, I hope to visit some day!”

Carrie Lynn-Taylor, an English and journalism teacher at the high school, welcomed the visiting students and guided them through their day at the high school. They had access to the journalism students and their work space, and even got a glimpse into broadcast journalism, visiting with video production teacher Dan Cecconie and his students for a tour of their Warwick Valley TV production studio. 

“I really wanted this day to be student-centered,” Ms. Lynn-Taylor said. “Being able to show the younger kids what we do and how they can carry that love they've discovered in elementary school all the way up here is great!

Following a Q&A session with the high school journalism students, the Park Avenue contingent received a crash-course in using Adobe InDesign, the software that the high school journalism students use to lay out the high school's newspaper, The Survey. The Paw Print team explained how they use Google Docs to create their newspaper, and were excited to learn how to use the more advanced InDesign program and all the creative freedom it provides.

For the WVHS journalism students, spending the morning with the elementary students was fun and rewarding, and many said it felt like a full circle moment.

“I think it’s important to show them how much their creativity and passion can grow,” said Madison DeSantis, a senior. “We got to show them how complex our process is compared to theirs, and it really encouraged them. It’s fun to see their commitment and how excited they are.”

The Paw Print and Survey writers wrapped up the day with a collaborative writing piece. By the time they boarded their bus back to Park Avenue, you could tell that their visit allowed them to see that they have much to look forward too, and that they can carry their passion for reporting from elementary school right through to high school.