Health & Fitness
The Journey Begins for the Young Reporters
Session I of the Young Reporters Camp at the Safety Harbor Museum and Cultural Center proved highly successful. After four days of intensive researching, interviewing, walking and writing, twelve of our area’s young writers will soon share their articles on Patch. The reporters range in age from 8 to 12 years old and most of the kids came in to the camp with a previously developed interest in writing. Several have even written books or are in the process of doing so!
On Monday everyone got to hear what it is like to be a writer and earn an income writing articles. Damian said he enjoyed meeting Safety Harbor Patch editor Jeff Rosenfield. “His job is cool because he gets to go to a lot a lot of places and walk around Safety Harbor and interview people. “
After receiving Patch pens, stickers and magnets from Mr. Jeff, the young reporters grabbed their notebooks and ventured downtown to find their stories. They noticed the grapefruits painted on many of the Main Street buildings that we passed. We stopped at the Chamber of Commerce to grab maps and Miss Danielle answered a few questions about the old building, which now serves as the Chamber of Commerce, but was once Safety Harbor’s Courthouse.
“I learned a few tips this week,” Samantha said. “Like how to format an article.”
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Each day the reporters worked hard to polish their previous day’s work. They were all willing to listen to peer reviews and make necessary revisions (which is often quite difficult for many adult writers).
The reporters interviewed Safety Harbor's mayor, Joe Ayoub, Mary at Harbor Pets Grooming, Bill Bailey at Main Street Market, R. Scott Anderson, curator of the museum, Romeo Lemay, Todd Ramquist and Kiaralinda (via phone),and artist Janene Smith. They also appreciated the help they received from the Chamber of Commerce and the library.
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Like most of the reporters, Sara always had her notebook ready. She said she knows she's a good writer.
“My favorite part was getting information for my article,” Hailey sad. “I liked interviewing the artist Janene Smith because I got a lot of good quotes.”
Elizabeth and her sister Lilly used their phones to take notes and photographs for their articles. Elizabeth said she thought the camp was interesting. “I like solving crimes and reporting is like an investigation.”
When asked if he had advice for the next Young Reporters campers, John said, “It’s a lot of fun, but you might want to wear some sunscreen because you’ll walk around Safety Harbor to find something to write about.” His sister Olivia wanted kids in the next session to know that they’ll have a good time too. She added “The best thing that happened was meeting artists, writers, and seeing Safety Harbor sights.”
Dimitri’s favorite part was the interviewing, especially when it got him out of the heat. “We had so much fun walking around town and asking people questions. It was really hot out so I was glad when we went inside to interview.”
Bailey entertained the others with her fake British accent and she enjoyed using her cell phone to voice-record her interviews. “ I liked how we got to sit by our newly-made friends,” she said.
“I really didn’t struggle with the writing,” Katelyn said, “all I did was write down what came to my mind and I added more details to it. “
Dominic discovered that he’s a good editor. “I was more in it for the learning of journalism. I had a feeling it would be more interviewing and more about asking questions,” he said. When asked what the worst part of the four day camp was, he admitted he didn’t enjoy writing the group article (which it turns out, is this very one!)
“My favorite part was writing my article,” Samantha said. “I want to be an author when I grow up. I think that every kid who wants to be an author or a reporter should take this camp. “
Others said the mosquito bites were their least favorite part. After counting, the twelve writers reported a total of 55 combined bites!
But the kids were in good spirits, even after the bites, the heat and the hard work. Sara summed it up best when she said “Wow, I like being a writer!”
Look for their articles soon, here on the Patch.