Students getting up-to-date news

Thousands of students in Catholic schools throughout the Albany Diocese have something new in their backpacks: copies of The Evangelist.

Through Newspapers in Education (NIE), 2,600 students in grades 4-8 spend some time each week reading and discussing articles in their diocesan newspaper.

NIE is used throughout the U.S. by secular and religious publications. In the Diocese, it is a joint project of The Evangelist and the diocesan Catholic Schools Office. It was piloted last spring in several schools and expanded this fall to 31 schools.

"The Evangelist is an excellent resource for developing life-long learning skills," Sister Mary Jane Herb, superintendent of Catholic schools, told principals in a letter about the program. "Newspapers are important, 'living' textbooks that feature real-time information that connects students to their communities and, ultimately, to their world."

James Breig, editor of The Evangelist, said that NIE "is dedicated to helping teachers and students get full benefit from a powerful learning tool that connects the classroom to current events. Teachers can use The Evangelist not only in religion classes but also as a resource for studies in geography, math, science and history.

"Catholic schools educate children in a faith-filled environment; The Evangelist is a natural part of that effort because it connects world, national and local events to the Church, the Diocese, the parish and the individual Catholic."

Kathy Menard, who directs NIE for The Evangelist, is an educational psychologist and a former teacher in Catholic schools. She prepares weekly mailings to teachers with suggestions for how to use articles with students. Teachers are also free to go their own way in applying the newspaper to their students' specific needs in a given week.

"Teachers tell me they really value having an authentic, timely print resource," Mrs. Menard said. "They use the paper in all kinds of creative ways -- both with the weekly instructional support materials The Evangelist provides and with ideas of their own. Students look forward to receiving their paper each week."

(10/9/03) [[In-content Ad]]