Free guide to interviewing and writing feature articles

Download the Hometown Heroes Teacher Guide in PDF format.   

Assignment: Hometown Heroes

Assignment: Hometown Heroes

The Kid Scoop Foundation's "Hometown Heroes" contest rewards young journalists who take an interest in and report on leaders or personal heroes within their own communities.

Literacy Program

Literacy Program

Reading skills advance when a child is presented with reading activities and content that relate to his or her world. How does reading the news, in print or digital formats impact literacy?

Handwashing Education Campaign

Handwashing Education Campaign

One of the best ways to prevent the spread of the swine flu or any flu or cold, is to wash your hands. The Kid Scoop Foundation provides downloadable and printable activity pages that help instill this message with your kids, to help them understand the simple steps they can take to reduce their...

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Mission Statement

The Kid Scoop Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to develop engaged and literate citizens in a diverse society. Our programs and interactive activities enhance student achievement through programs that involve students in their local communities and by using newspapers and other news resources as tools that encourage literacy and promote a sense of social responsibility and hometown pride.

Why newspapers?

  1. Increase literacy levels -
    A recent University of Minnesota research study, Measuring Success, found that when newspapers are used as a teaching tool in the classroom at least once a week, academic achievement test scores go up an average of 10%. In high risk, minority populations the increase was more than 30%.
  2. Cost-effective -
    Because newspapers have a business interest in reaching young people, they have an incentive to invest in a program which is not only educationally effective, but also gives them access to future customers. Also, when newspapers become a partner with the local schools, they can provide educational materials at a greatly reduced cost, or even for free. Newspapers, because they can provide valuable publicity, have the ability to obtain business partners to offset additional costs.
  3. Civic Participation -
    When students regularly read their local newspaper, they become exposed to democracy in action. They read about how people in a community contribute to the quality of life; they read about problems communities’ face and the differing opinions on how to solve these problems. They have to become good readers, they have to learn to distinguish fact from opinion, understand points of view and become critical thinkers as well as readers. They also become exposed first-hand to the importance of free speech and a free press. They also learn how local government works, something that is nearly impossible to find in today’s textbooks. Talk to any person actively involved in a community and they are readers of their local newspaper. Once people understand their communities, they find ways to get involved and serve.
 

Vision

For Children:
Our programs are designed to celebrate and encourage student writing and civic participation using local news content as an educational tool.
For Communities:
By educating young people about how communities work, how citizens communicate and participate will foster positive youth involvement and citizenship.
For the World:
To distribute cost-effective learning materials to schools in under-developed countries that have few educational resources.