NIE Week brings focus on newspapers as a tool to aid teachers' work

The Marshall Democrat-News helps students and teachers in Marshall celebrate Newspapers in Education (NIE) week from Monday, March 5, through Friday, March 9. The week's celebration, "Now I Get It! Improving Comprehension With Newspapers," is a nationwide event that focuses on reading comprehension with the help of teachers who encourage the use of newspapers in the classroom.

NIE is a not-for-profit program created by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) where participating newspapers, like The Marshall Democrat-News, provide newspapers directly to teachers for use in classrooms.

The interactive program engages students in learning. A Thursday daily copy of The Marshall Democrat-News is provided to students at no cost to them, educators or schools.

The copies of the papers are provided to the students by local businesses and civic organizations who choose to sponsor one class. Right now, Pat Morrow, circulation manager at The Marshall Democrat-News, delivers about 300 copies to three schools. Two classes at St. Peter Catholic School, two classes at the Marshall High School and all of the classes at Eastwood Elementary School take the newspapers for use in classrooms. "Eleven classes total," Morrow said.

"There is at least one activity or story in the paper that a class can use," Morrow said. "Our paper meets the Missouri standards for NIE."

Morrow said the paper became interested in participating in NIE when Dawn Kitchell, Missouri Press Association NIE director, approached her. "(Publisher) Shelly (Arth) and I got together and talked it over," Morrow said. "We thought it was a good idea."

The Marshall Democrat-News has been participating in NIE for about eight years, Morrow said.

Morrow sends out forms to all teachers at the beginning of the school year. The teachers then decide if they want to make newspapers a part of their classroom curriculum. "Teachers do not have to use them in the classroom as long as they send them home with their students," Morrow said.

The mission of NIE is to help increase literacy. Literacy is the foundation of a democratic society and is a skill necessary to live and work today..

"We want students to get interested in newspapers early in life, so they will read later," Morrow said.

Teachers can get involved in NIE by calling Morrow at The Marshall Democrat-News.

Contact Rachel Harper at

marshallcity@socket.net