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Sarasota Wednesday, Mar. 24, 2010 5 years ago

CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT: Imagine School at Palmer Ranch

by: Loren Mayo Black Tie Editor

Students in Kate Valach's newspaper club, which started in September 2009, give The Observer their take on what it's like to publish a school newspaper.

Fifth-grade students participating in the Imagine School at Palmer Ranch newspaper club strive for perfection every day when they write, edit and produce the school newspaper, the "Longhorn News."

Lyndsey Jones, age 10, writer and typist
What makes your job fun?
“I like writing stories and typing them so kids feel good. I also like that people get to read other kids’ stories.”

What is the most commonly misspelled word that you see in stories?
“‘Thay’ instead of ‘they.’”

Do you have an idea for your next story?
“Hawaii. It’s my dream to go there. I like the beaches, sun and Elvis Presley.”

Elvis Presley?
“Yes, he had a whole room in his house dedicated to Hawaii.”

Fay Baldwin, age 10, typist and printer
What makes your job fun?
“I like typing and focusing on spelling. I like the idea of writing stories and learning about current events in the newspaper so other kids know what’s happening.”

Are you savvy with the keyboard?
“Yes, I’m a fast typer.”

What’s the most commonly misspelled word you see in stories?
“‘Whent’ instead of ‘went.’”

Would you say your dream job is to work for a newspaper?
“I want to be a speech pathologist.”

Morgan Bortz, age 10, editor
What’s it like to be an editor?
“It’s the best job ever. I like interacting with people.”

How do you edit stories?
“I read everything out loud. If I run into a sentence and it doesn’t sound right, I try to fill in a word. If the sentence is too short, I make it longer.”

Would you classify yourself as a perfectionist?
“Yes, especially with spelling and grammar.”

Is this your dream job?
“I want to be the editor of a daily newspaper.”

What’s the hardest part of being an editor?
“I have to tell kids how to spell words.”

Contact Loren Mayo at

In the video below, Morgan Bortz describes the editing process.


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