As part of a continuing effort of an outreach toward elementary-school students involved in journalism and media, The Playwickian invited Paw Power Press staff to its publication office to edit articles and discuss the foundations of AP style.

On May 3, those part of Ferderbar Elementary School’s student newspaper collaborated with current editors to revise their work for the upcoming issue.

Over pizza and refreshments, the young writers learned about what it means to editorialize, what the purpose of journalism is and how to correct any errors within their writing.

Topics that the staff wrote about included the presidential race, a trip to see Aesop’s fables and a visit from a science showman to the school.

Tara Huber and Denise Brand, advisers of the two publications, coordinated this event for a second time along with Ferderbar’s principal Judy Brown to continue this program among teens and youth.
“The most fulfilling thing that has happened as an adviser and visiting with the Playwickian editors is the sheer excitement in my students’ eyes.

From the beginning stages of throwing ideas around to seeing their article in print fuels their excitement to continue to write and join the Poquessing paper next year.

That sparkle in our students’ eyes from learning is the reason teachers choose this profession,” Brand said.
Mangala, in conjunction with Zoey Joyce, Multimedia Editor, gave the presentation about AP Style. It serves as a journalistic filter on the language incorporated into each pieces.

The guidelines within it detail how to edit dates, courtesy titles, states and other such elements to fit the newspaper standard.

“Personally, I think that if I had been privy to the world of journalism at the age of 10, like these kids are now, I would have benefited so much from that. But now, the reverse has happened… I had them look at past issues of the Playwickian and they pointed out aspects of the design elements, something that I thought they would overlook, that I usually don’t even notice,” features editor Gauri Mangala said.

The Paw Power Press staff was also given the opportunity to ask questions and once again live Tweet the event.
Various handouts and outlines about the types of articles within a publication were also distributed so writers could review and edit their articles.

“What I have learned, or rather now what I remember, is how passionate a lot of these kids can be even at around the age of 10 or so,” Op-Ed editor Spencer Potts said.

It is expected that the communication between the publications will continue into the 2016-17 school year.
Currently, the Paw Power Press has released another one of its publications, designed by a Playwickian editor.