By: Mitchyl Hedman

Over the past few months, the Eisenhower High School journalism classes have been visiting the kindergarten classes. They started their visits by reading children’s stories to the kindergarteners. This was done so that the kindergarteners would feel more comfortable with the journalism students upon their return in the following weeks. On their next visit, the students asked the kindergarteners to write a storybook of their own with them. They worked to collaborate on ideas with the kindergarteners to form a story that would later be presented to the kindergarten class. The journalism students spent a few weeks creating the stories on Microsoft PowerPoint, which allowed them to create characters with animations and add audio to their stories.

The Squire interviewed kindergartener Conner Briggs for a closer insight on his opinion of the project.

The Squire: Did you read stories with a high school journalism class?

Conner Briggs: Yes, that was the first time they came to see us.

TS: Did you make a storybook with that high school journalism class?

CB: Yeah, Liam and I made it [the storybook].

TS: Do you remember what you made your story about?

CB: Yes, Batman, the Joker, and Clayface.

TS: How did you come up with those ideas?

CB: I thought of my favorite superheroes and bad guys.

TS: What was your favorite part of this project?

CB: I liked the first time they [the high schoolers] came because I got to pick the last book that we read.

TS: Do you remember what the title of that book was?

CB: The Loose Caboose

TS: Is there anything else that you liked about the project?

CB: Yes, we get to watch them [the storybooks they created] on the SmartBoard next time.

As Conner told us in his interview, the project was enjoyed by kindergarteners as it was also enjoyed by the high school journalism students. This is the second year that the journalism classes have participated in this project, but it will not be the last. This is a learning experience that both the high schoolers and the kindergarteners can enjoy.