FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vicki Whiting
Kid Scoop
P.O. Box 1802
Sonoma, CA 95476
707.996.6077

Local non-profit Kid Scoop recognized by White House

SONOMA, CALIFORNIA - April 6th, 2010. Last Friday, the 2nd of April, the Kid Scoop Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Sonoma, California was invited to send a young reporter to the The Student Townhall meeting April 7th at 11am EST in Washington DC.

Founder of Kid Scoop Newspaper, Vicki Whiting says “I think the White House is on target in taking the message of the Let’s Move! campaign direct to kids. If kids are going to take responsibility for their health and lives, it is their own personal choices that will make the biggest difference. By letting kids listen to the First Lady talk about the campaign and then share that information kid to kid, I think it is more likely that the message will be heard and taken on by kids. They can own the cause. Kid Scoop is about empowering young people through writing, education and participation. ”

Kid Scoop produces a weekly children’s newspaper feature and a monthly newspaper for kids. Kid Scoop encourages kids between the ages of 7 and 12 to read, write, and think about the world around them. Topics featured within each edition range from American history to lessons on financial literacy. Health and Fitness have also been an issue featured in many editions of the Kid Scoop newspaper during the last 17 years.

Currently, First Lady, Michelle Obama is working on a nationwide program called Lets Move! which inspires children of all ages to make smart and healthy decision when it comes to food and exercise. The Let’s Move! campaign will focus on childhood obesity through approaches that mobilizes public and private sector resources. Let’s Move! will involve families, communities and schools, all of which impact the long-term health of children.

Like the First Lady’s most recent initiative, Kid Scoop works nationwide empowering the young voice. It’s Hometown Hero competition, which took place last year was created by 12 year old Olivia de Raadt - St. James. The Hometown Hero competition asked children across America to write about someone they admire in their hometown. “It gave children all over America an opportunity to have their voice heard and listened to in a society that usually forgets about the value and knowledge that children can offer.” says de Raadt-St James.

Engaging young people in their communities starts with getting news and information about that community. With so many entertainment and information options on the Internet, there is a risk that young people won’t connect with their community news if they don’t get a local newspaper or access a local news site.

Two reports from the Newspaper Association of America underscore how getting community news into the hands of young people is critical to deepening community engagement.
The 2004 NAA Foundation report, Growing Lifelong Readers, documented that newspapers delivered to students via formal, teacher-directed lessons, promotes life-long readership. The NAA report, Driving Civic Engagement shows that students who read news are more likely to vote and become civically engaged as adults.

This past year newspaper education programs reduced or eliminated the print delivery of their product to classrooms in favor of delivering e-editions. Severe declines in teacher participation resulted. And the teachers that receive e-edition classroom subscriptions have not used them as often or as effectively as the print editions.

Supporting the effective use of a variety of digital news media including the electronic editions of newspapers in the classroom is of the essence. With the aggressive push by many newspapers to stop sending printed newspapers into classrooms and offering teachers e-editions instead, there is a risk that teachers will discontinue the use of community news and information in the classroom all together.

Today, this issue is compounded by the fact that many young people do not see a newspaper at home. They are not as a group reading news in print or online. We risk the creation of a generation that is disconnected and disenfranchised.

Training is key to addressing this crisis of literacy and citizenship. Few newspapers have the staff or budget for the training that is needed to get large numbers of teachers using digital news resources quickly.

Teachers and newspapers alike need turn-key training materials. The Kid Scoop Foundation intends to utilize non-profit and charitable foundation funds to develop practical resources and networking opportunities to support teachers in the effective use of digital media in the classroom.  This will enable teachers to quickly transition from using print to digital news as a teaching tool – insuring community news readership and an engaged public for a new generation.

Does it matter to young people if we loose our newspapers? How does it effect their local communities?  Has the concept of community already been redefined by the internet?