Heather Suraci and Cole Monte are learning the real-life joys and agita of putting out a newspaper.
The fourth-grade classmates have spearheaded publishing the first student newspaper at Woods Road School.
They say they enjoy thinking of topics, writing, interviewing and assigning topics to fellow student staffers.
They also try to ask peers politely to try a second time if someone hands in an article that needs work.
”Normally we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings,” said Cole.
Woods Road News is printed on 8-by-11-inch paper. The October issue is appropriately orange. A third issue should be out by December break.
Cole said he had the publishing idea at the end of the last school year. Principal Jodi Howe assured him they would talk about it in September.Rather than interest dwindling over the summer, Cole and Heather were back with vigor in the fall.
”We give each fourth grader a chance to write articles,” Heather said. She and Cole take the suggestions and decide which ones to pursue. They think about their classmates’ personalities and interests in matching subject and writer, they said.
Like any paper, there are some staple features. There’s a word search, created by typing the hidden words in a Web file and having it scramble and create the puzzle.
There’s a movie review, a message from the principal, a riddle or joke, a sports article and recipes. In the interest of journalistic integrity, Cole and classmate Cali Giranda went to the kitchen and followed a recipe, bringing some cookies for the class to test.
The second issue has more pages, mainly to include student artwork, which the editors scan. The editors plan to include candid photos from around the school.
The main news story is an interview with a township personality. Mayor Carl Suraci (Heather’s uncle) and Woods Road Fire Chief Charlie Nuara were the first two profiles.
Some of the journalistic hurdles are as certain as time immemorial.
”The hardest part for me is to get every article by a certain time, and get it printed by a certain time,” said Cole.
After kids hand in their work, Cole found he has had to answer questions about when the paper will hit the hallways, he said.
Heather and Cole choose a page layout in advance and vary the typeface to fit the tenor of the article. After the principal’s review, the school office prints about 450 copies and stuffs some in teachers’ mailboxes.
Cole and Heather will move on to Auten Road Intermediate School next year, and they are thinking of their legacy. Starting in January, they plan to invite third graders to contribute, just to give them a little taste for next year, Cole said.
As for themselves, they don’t know if ARIS has a student paper.
”If they don’t, I guess we can always start one,” said Heather.

