Multimedia Reporting (Bradford-Noland)

Rosedale Middle School students visit the Kansas City Star
Photo:David Eulitt

A snowball fight… something normally reserved for winter days after school, but for Rosedale Middle School students it’s become a learning event. Snowball fight is an educational game invented by University of Kansas students for their Excellence in Journalism Camp.

Thanks to the efforts of both the KU and Rosedale students the program was a huge success and plans have been made to continue the camp next semester.

“The original plan was to do the camp for one semester, and be done with it.” said Carl Perico, a language arts teacher at Rosedale and a huge help in starting the journalism camp. “They made it such a success that the Dean of the KU School of Journalism decided to offer it again, in the spring of ’07.”

KU journalism students spent the fall semester working with sixth-, seventh- and eighth- graders from Rosedale Middle School in Kansas City, Kan. As part of their Journalism 500 class: “Citizen Journalism and Community Work”, KU students split into two groups, one that worked with sixth graders and another that worked with seventh- and eighth- graders. The sixth graders met every Tuesday and the other group met every Thursday.

13 journalism students participated in the program, which met from 3-4:45p.m. each session. The college students lead and planned each camp lesson, teaching students how to post on the web, interview sources, take pictures and write news stories.

Teachers and KU participants alike have seen a vast improvement in the Rosedale students’ skills as reporters and critics of media. Although, Perico said he hasn’t seen any overnight miracles in his English class, he did say his Spanish speaking students have a lot more confidence in their writing capabilities. He said it’s been a long time since he’s heard “I can’t do it!”

“I have seen these kids mature this semester, and be more analytical and critical,”Perico said. “Overall, these kids are not afraid to ask questions, and they are not intimidated by the writing process.”

“The students at Rosedale, I’m told, have more ability now to talk to adults,” said Peggy Kuhr, Professor of Journalism at KU. “They’re more self-assured, the teachers tell me, and what they’re saying is they have learned to ask better questions.”

Educational progress was not the only change, but many of the students formed new relationships and bonds. The program actually made learning fun for many of them and exceeded their expectations. What started as a chance for extra credit in Mr. Perico’s English class, turned into a life changing experience.

“At first, I just thought it was gonna be about just writing. Then, I think it means a lot to me because we had a lot of fun, spent time together,” Jesus Gutierrez, Rosedale eighth grader said. “We had good times. It’s like part of my family.”

Even the KU students, many of whom are graduating this spring, felt a strong connection with the students.

“I bonded a lot. There’s several kids I’ll miss a lot,” Heather Brummitt, KU graduate student said. Brummitt joined the class in order to create a documentary for her grad project.

The success of this program cannot be chalked up to education and friendships alone. It is the brainchild of a lot of peoples’ time and effort. Donna Devine, from Rosedale Development Association, and Peggy Kuhr approached Perico and another teacher, Janet Leigh, about doing this program in April of 2006. Each person had a significant part in putting together and executing the camp.

“One of the most important factors, I think, was the school itself. We had a couple of great Language Arts teachers, who really wanted to support this project and help me out at the start.”Kuhr said.

Kuhr’s partners had an equal amount of praise for her efforts to bring these two diverse groups together.

“Peggy is the wheel that makes all of this turn. She has done an outstanding job despite all the roadblocks that came her way,”Perico said. “I am so honored to be working with her, and that she chose our school to pilot this program.”

Through the ups and downs of this program these middle school students have learned what journalism means. Perico said his students have all shown interest in the possibility of pursuing journalism as a career, adding that originally they might have asked you “what’s that?”

“It’s about experiencing the ways of bringing news to someone,” Carlos Ortiz, Rosedale eighth grader said.

“They’re teaching us something that we might like to do when we grow up,”Zamara Cardona said, also an eighth grader.

Several of the Rosedale participants plan on returning next semester, saying they hope to branch out as journalists. They all expressed interest in going out into the community and interviewing strangers, as well as taking more field trips. This semester they took a field trip to the Kansas City Star, which everyone described as their favorite part of the camp.

Along with the field trip, students participated in exercises, like Snowball fight. In this game students write a sentence on a sheet of paper, throw the paper, and then another student adds to it. This interactive learning could be part of the reason why many of the students are coming back next semester.

Along with returning students, Perico and Kuhr, predict that they will have several more participants.

“Most of the Rosedale students stayed with it throughout the semester. That speaks highly of the professor and the KU students’ efforts,” said Perico. “Now that the word has gotten around, more kids are coming out of the wood work.”

ALL ROSEDALE FOOTAGE WAS SHOT BY HEATHER BRUMMITT