Read all about it in the Bi-Cultural Day School newspaper

Today’s top story? Bi-Cultural Day School has launched its first newspaper! It started with a conversation between sixth-grader Kaila Rosovsky and Head of School Jacqueline Herman.

“I got the idea for a student newspaper during the summer,” Kaila said. “I thought that students should know what’s going on around the school. A student newspaper is a good way to do that.”

It was then added as an elective for middle-school students this fall.

“I was an editor of my college newspaper and knew what a great experience this could be, so I offered to be the faculty advisor,” said School Librarian Dora Salm, who shares the role with Judaic Studies teacher Sarah Hochman. “We thought that we would have a few kids sign up. Surprisingly, on the first day, we had 18 students show up!”

The students discussed different names for the paper. Salm created an online poll for voting, and The BCDS Times came out as the winner.

The students meet weekly to produce the online paper.

“We have a lively editorial meeting with everyone brainstorming and coming up with article ideas. The kids then use the rest of our meeting time for writing, researching, editing and fine-tuning their articles and pieces. Outside of our meeting, they also have to find time to schedule and conduct interviews and attend events if necessary for their assignments,” said Salm.

Topics and columns include community events affecting students and faculty, sports, opinion pieces, arts and entertainment, fashion, a student or teacher of the week, and, even comics and a word search.

Recent features included articles about the BCDS Thanksgivukkah celebration, the annual auction, cross country events and a preview of winter basketball. 

“I signed up for the school newspaper so that I could use my writing abilities and to show people that I’m a good writer,” said sixth-grader Noah Weinberg. “My favorite part about having a weekly column is that you can write something new each time.”

The students use WordPress to upload the content. In just a couple of weeks, the paper had more than 2,800 page views.

The columns have been especially popular with the students.

“I love being able to express my love of fashion through writing and to be able to share beauty with the world,” said sixth-grader Rina Marlowe.

Salm said the paper offers numerous benefits to the students.

“They’re learning the basics of journalism, summarizing their ideas, creating punchy headlines and capturing dynamic photos. I can’t think of any other activity in which students learn the art of interviewing people, oftentimes adults and teachers, negotiating and meeting deadlines, and taking all the information they have collected to create a cohesive article. There is also something so gratifying and exciting about seeing your name ‘in print,’” she said. “The BCDS Times is an innovative project. For a school our size to put out such a quality product, with so much depth, in such a short amount of time, speaks volumes about our kids’ initiative, talent and drive. I am so proud of them!”

Read the latest issue at www.bcdstimes.com.