Education through newspapers is a very viable way to educate. Especially today when, in this day and age, handheld newspapers are harder and harder to find. Let alone develop and turn them into ongoing reliable news and community information outlets. 

Eureka Nevada has just the right newspaper, at the right time. RecentlyThe Eureka County Star had the opportunity to bring that mind set into the middle schools here. The Eureka County Star, a weekly publication that serves the north-central Nevada 4180 square milecounty has begun to deliver papers to the 7th and 8th graders of Eureka County Schools.  

In an ever-continuing effort to grow this community newspaper, I got an idea to see if there was a class that might be interested in seeing what a newspaper does. Not just for adults, but how a newspaper contributes to every resident, including the kids. I talked to who I knew was in the know at the school, the principal’s secretary Mrs. Porter. (I know that’s who knows everything, because for a few years in the 1980s I held that position.) I contacted the teacher for the 7th and 8th grades; Mrs. Gearty and she welcomed the idea with open doors. We set up times for me to meet with the students so they would be ready to get new newspapers each week throughout the rest of the school year. We have 29, 7th graders and 17, 8th graders in the Eureka County Middle School. Those numbers are huge compared to the average graduating classes of 10 to maybe 18 High School seniors in the past years. The gold mining industry has grown our population throughout the years, and we find that we are, again, in a boom of gold mining activity. That is why the number of students, to us in this rural community, is so big!  

The students were shy at first, but as I handed out a newspaper to each of them along with my business card, introduced myself and talked to them personally, they became more engaged.  

It was eyeopening to me to see that most of the students had never even seen let alone held a real hold in your hand newspaper. The electronic world is their world, that was not lost on me. So with Mrs. Gearty’s help we showed the kids the parts of the paper. The importance of the front page, how a headline is used to attract attention. What the meaning of above and below the fold is. Moving through The Star they saw our section entitled,Our Past. Where we go into the records of the old newspapers of Eureka and retell ofthings 25, 50 and 100 years ago. It so happened that the 100 Years Ago section had a reprint of an ad for a grocery store that had to be owned by a long time ago relative of the teacher and coach in the room next door. After the bell that teacher, Mr. Minoletti was nearly attacked by the students trying to show him what they found in that paper! They were excited. They saw that a newspaper is not ofjust today, but of yesterday and tomorrow.  

Each student I met that day had something different to contribute to the conversation. Albeit some of them I took as a challenge to get them to be part of the conversation. That, that pull on each student started a new idea. I offered for each of them to send me something to put in what they began to see was their community newspaper. The idea became a fun challenge for each of the students. In getting them excited to see their story, new item, even a picture with their name attached and published seemed to ignite little sparks of interest.  

So much so that before I even got back to my computer, I already had an idea of what to call the new section. When I was the k-12 secretary, I loved the kids. But at times they were overwhelming, and I began to call them little ants. They were everywhere! That’s what the new section in The Eureka County Star has been named, “Our Little Ants.”  

With the explanation that will be a tag line at the bottom of the section telling why that name was chosen. I want our readers to know why we are happily using what the Eureka School District students want to add to this paper. So we will add this:  

“This section is dedicated for submissions from the students of Eureka County Schools. We lovingly call them Our Little Ants because we could not live without ants, as their extinction would cause catastrophic damage to ecosystems and collapse the food chain. Life would cease without them and our children.” 

A few of the things I was able to bring to the classrooms was the fact that I still have copies of a newspaper from Ely, Nevada from 1974.That night someone used dynamite to blow up a gazebo in the middle of the town in the middle of the night. I was somewhat able to instill in them the idea that a newspaper, their community newspaper, The Star,and papers in other towns are important because they report when someone dies or when babies are born. The newspaper tells visitors about the businesses available in the towns. The newspaper is where you, your parent and grandparents and aunts and uncles can see pictures of you if you do something in sports or local organizations like FFA, Future Farmers of America, or 4-H or even have a lemonade stand in the middle of summer. They never thought of a paper as a living breathing part of their community. A few eyes sparkled at the noting that where they live is THEIR COMMUNITY. That they were a major part of the community and that comes with great pride. And great responsibility.  

In the time I had with the students I emphasized how it’s important that we notlose the paper version of newspapers. Even though their world is electronically driven, the hold in your hand paper, to share and keep copies when you or your friends and family are spotlighted in the newspapers in communities, will become more and more important as their lives develop.   

Recently, after dragging my feet for some years, I put The Eureka County Star paper online, but hopefully I will never, with the grace of God, never leave our hold in your hand paper version by the wayside. Newspapers are businesses and are run on advertising, section sponsors, and subscribers yes. But without the readers, submitters, and community driven activities a newspaper is not much more than the proverbial bottom of the bird cage. Just like any business it is a balancing act. We in Eureka are lucky to have a good economy, great things to write about and some super sections that are welcomed into homes each week. There has been a total of nine newspapers in Eureka’s 160 plus year history, we hope our Star will be on that list for a very long time.  

In Eureka and in many other communities it’s amazing what you can learn from the newspapers. Bringing in the students raises our paper to a new level. We are truly not only bringing The Eureka County Star newspaper into education, but bringing education into the newspaper. That is a grand thing.  

Trina has a self-syndicated lifestyle column, “Is This You?” which is available to interested newspapers. She is an author and the Eureka County Star was developed and started by her when the last newspaper in the community ceased publication. To see The Star online or to subscribe, contact her at trina@theeurekacountystar.com