On November 2nd, members of Dodger Media Online— Meredith McKeever, Amanda Daniels, and Maggie Kim- went with Ms. DiTuro to visit the Tiger Town Press, Central Avenue School’s student newspaper.
The Tiger Press is an 8 week long after-school enrichment program that has a fall and a spring term. Each student writes his/her own articles, and at the end of the term everything is compiled into a printed newspaper and distributed to every kid in the school. The newspaper is filled with book reports, word searches, surveys, interviews, current events, opinion articles, comics, and more. A similar program is run at Torey J. Sabatini School called Jaguar Journal.
The stories in the Tiger Town Press range from surveys comparing dogs and cats to an informative piece on the Bond Referendum to a history of Halloween and other popular holidays. And best of all, the kids love it! The enrichment program sells out almost instantly when enrollment opens. When I asked if any of them wanted to be interviewed, almost all hands were raised. I wanted to include all of their voices, so you can view their interviews at the end of this article.
Fifth grader Lucy Lemon said that if anyone is looking to join the newspaper, he/she “should definitely do it. It’s really fun to write different articles.” Multiple students raved about how their favorite part of Tiger Town Press is the freedom to “write whatever you want” and “not be assigned specific topics,” including Macie Lopez, 5th grade.
It seems that Madison student journalism is moving towards a bright future. Be sure to check out the Tiger Town Press, which will be reproduced on the Dodger Media Online website.
Studnet Interviews:
What is your name?
Charlie
What grade are you in?
5th
Why did you join the Tiger Press?
I wanted to write.
How long have you been in it?
This is my first year.
What’s your favorite article you’ve written?
I’ve only written one, about Halloween and its origins, different costumes, and the school’s Halloween parade.
What is your name?
Macie.
What grade are you in?
5th grade.
What do you like about the newspaper?
I like that I can write about whatever I want, and I really like doing interviews.
Why did you join?
I thought it would be fun to do.
What’s your favorite article you’ve written?
An interview with Mrs. Attilio. My favorite question was “Why did you want to become a teacher?”
What is your name?
Lucy
What grade are you in?
5th
What do you like about the newspaper?
I get to choose what to write and not be assigned.
Why did you join?
I wanted to be a part of it because I really like to write articles and like that I can express myself.
Any advice for people who want to join the newspaper?
You should definitely do it! It’s really fun to write different articles.
What are your names?
Ana and Emma
What grade?
5th
What do you like about the newspaper?
A bunch of my friends are in the paper. It’s fun to write different articles and interview the teachers.
What’s your favorite article you’ve written?
A holiday article about different holidays, with five fun facts about each.
Any advice for people who want to join the newspaper?
It’s really fun because you get to see yourself in the newspaper and feel proud, it’s a great experience.
What’s your name?
Sage
What grade are you in?
5th
What do you like about the newspaper?
You can write anything you want, and talk about things that others do not know.
Why did you join?
It’s really fun and exciting to see yourself in the newspaper and write the articles with your friends.
What’s your favorite article you’ve written?
I wrote one about Troy Cummings’ visit. The interview with him took up two whole pages.
Any advice for people who want to join the newspaper?
They should join. It’s really fun! The process of seeing how real things work in the newspaper is really cool.